500 Clown Macbeth
A raucus late-night show in which 3 clowns attempt to perform
William Shakespeare's classic play and cannot.
They fail.
They are called "F".
Created and performed by F
500 CLOWN MACBETH is Clown Theatre:
Clown Theatre is clowns making theatre.
Steve Linsner once said: "A clown is a poet who is also an orangutan."
Imagine 3 such beings attempting to perform Macbeth.
Clown Theatre relies on experienced performers who are open to using multiple means to achieve singular ends.
Over their careers,
Adrian Danzig
David Engel
Paul Kalina
have each performed for tens of thousands of people.
Clown Theatre is a celebration of the moment.
This means that everything that happens in the room is fair game for the performers.
Laughs, lateness, or a sudden sound from the street are all happening and therefore playable.
Immediacy balanced with a crafted and compelling narrative arc.
F draws its inspiration from Vaudeville and classic one-ring circus clowning,
rather than the stereotypical friendly clown. Not that friendly is bad. Friendly is just limited.
There's also Morally Rotten, Sexual, Vexed, Enraged, Surprised,
Sleep Deprived and on and on and on.
Think of the range of experience in Macbeth as opposed to Ronald McDonald.
Which is more interesting to you?
500 CLOWN MACBETH borrows two themes from Mr. Shakespeare's version: Ambition and Superstition.
Shakespeare wrote a play
in which those who subverted the moral order of the universe
for personal ambitious gain, were punished and killed.
In the 21st century there is a real question as to whether or not there is a moral order to the universe;
we treat the ambitious in very different ways.
The play also brings with it a curse.
Many who have performed it
have been badly hurt, killed and or complain of sleeplessness.
For many in the theatre community,
there are elaborate rituals to perform
if someone mentions the word "Macbeth" in a theatre. It's always referred to as "the Scottish play" in conversations, to avoid bad luck.