Underground Shakespeare

“Joe sent me.”
Is this old pass phrase from prohibition days poised to make a comeback in—of all places—anglo theatre circles? A couple of recent productions operating in out-of-the-way, almost secret venues, suggest a trend.

Vigil for Macbeth, which opened last week and continues through this weekend in a “huge, elegantly furnished” loft near Old Montreal, is the work of a company so new it doesn’t even have a name. A group of recent graduates of the Concordia Theatre Department, led by Joseph Mercier in the director’s chair, took Shakespeare’s tragedy as a jumping-off point for an exploration of themes like sexuality, cruelty, choice and ritual. Fittingly, secrecy is also a theme. Rather than being brought into someone’s home, this production can be said to have grown out of one, since every prop or costume piece you see on “stage” was found in the loft (which belongs to an indulgent friend).

“I have a habit of just starting up (projects)” says Mercier. “I’ve worked a lot with Sarah Stanley and she’s very big on just doing it.”

A similar DIY spirit was behind Kicked in the Dark, a show recently performed in a private loft on Parc Avenue. The show was pay-what-you-can and not widely publicized because the company hadn’t obtained the rights to the material (they hope to do so for a future remount), but beyond necessity there was a desire to explore an edgy, stripped down brand of theatre.

“Because it’s so expensive (to put on shows), people are not doing risky stuff,” says Christine Armstrong, the instigator of Kicked in the Dark and one of the actors in it. “Everybody’s worried about a return on their investment, and you end up with safe, boring theatre.”

With no raised stage and no stage lighting, these productions erase the distance between actors and audience. In Kicked in the Dark, the actors lit themselves with flashlights. On closing night, the company invited the audience to stay and eat cake.

“We developed a theatrical world where the audience is acknowledged,” says Mercier of the collective that created Vigil for Macbeth.

Projects like these are obviously done on a shoestring. When you can only accommodate 15 spectators, you’re not going to make a fortune, but on the other hand, you don’t have to rent a space, which is the biggest expense for independent companies.

In order to find an audience, these companies are using the oldest marketing tool in the business, word-of-mouth, in a 21st century way: e-mailing virtual posters that employ enticing words like “private,” “intimate” and “unique.” The poster for Vigil for Macbeth gives the address of the venue, but for directions, you’re referred to a Web site. It all serves to create a sense of excitement around the show that you wouldn’t get if it were being performed in a conventional theatre.

Just like with speakeasies, even the neighbours may not know what’s going on. We can’t promise that whiskey will be flowing, but there just might be cake.

Vigil for Macbeth, through Saturday, May 19,
9 p.m., $15, students $10. To reserve and for
directions, please visit: www.vigilformacbeth.com.