Dunsinane on Tour

The National Theatre of Scotland and the Royal Shakespeare Company are bringing back David Greig’s incredibly compelling, thought provoking, Scottish play – sequel to the other ‘Scottish play,’ the one by the bard himself – and touring it up and down the country, including Edinburgh and Glasgow.

Dunsinane picks up where Shakespeare left off. It shows the effects of the English army on the Scottish landscape and the Scottish succession to the throne, the difficulty for the clans to accept this change and for the English to accept the Scottish ways of life. At the heart of all this, the powerful and manipulative Lady Macbeth plays her game against the English, protecting her self and her son. Scottish actress Siobhan Redmond brings this Lady Macbeth to life, opposite Johnny Phillips as the English commander Siward who tries to bring everything together. 

It’s a telling time for Dunsinane to reappear on the Scottish stage; with the independence bill waiting in the distance the politics between the English and the Scottish are once more back in the spotlight. Art may mirror life, or life, art. Nothing, this play teaches you, is solid. Nothing is certain and everything spirals out of control. Dunsinane is one of the great Scottish plays of recent years for award winning David Greig and always deserves a place on the Scottish stage. Having built up some momentum with the Fringe success of new works, this is the perfect time for Dunsinane to come back to its rightful place. [Eric Karoulla]