Edinburgh Fringe 2026
Macbeth: Blood and Bluegrass
The Barden Party
Venue: theSpace@Surgeons Hall
Festival: Edinburgh Fringe
Low Down
Stick Macbeth into a punk rock format and it works. Go Gothic and it’s darker than the darkest noir. Even the tights and tunics version still works, and not just for the Bard buffties. But the Bard and bluegrass, with banjos and a beatbox? Well, on the evidence of The Barden Party’s toe-tapping, energetic and novel adaptation, Macbeth: Blood and Bluegrass, that works too.
Review
One of the many wonderful things about Shakespeare plays is their malleability – you can bend and twist them into almost any shape and still end up with something that’s instantly recognisable and jolly entertaining. Stick Macbeth into a punk rock format and it works. Go Gothic and it’s darker than the darkest noir. Even the tights and tunics version still works, and not just for the Bard buffties.
But the Bard and bluegrass, with banjos and a beatbox? Well surprisingly yes, on the evidence of The Barden Party’s toe-tapping, energetic and novel adaptation, Macbeth: Blood and Bluegrass that’s running at theSpace Surgeons’ Hall before it trots off on a tour of Scottish theatres next month.
Now, you all know the plot of Macbeth, right? Good. But for the one person reading this that’s not au fait with the play, it’s all about power, pursuit thereof, hubris and a generous helping of gratuitous violence. Yep, Will knew how to write good solid family entertainment.
This gig starts with a bang with the ensemble belting out bluegrass lyrics and harmonies before a word has been uttered in anger, getting the audience involved not so much by breaking that metaphorical theatrical fourth wall as knocking the damn thing down completely and disposing of the debris, which is a convoluted way of saying “be prepared to get involved”, especially if you’re in the front row. And it continues this way, bar the odd pause for breath, for the next ninety minutes as one of Shakespeare’s darker plots gets a makeover with music.
The seven strong ensemble spend most of the time on stage, multi-tasking and multi-role playing using basic costume accoutrements to differentiate characters in addition to playing what seemed like an orchestra’s worth of instruments. Three of the actors concentrated principally on one role, with vignettes thrown in where necessary, whilst the four others worked their collective socks off to cover the rest.
This production leant heavily on gender neutral casting which proved very successful, never confusing or getting in the way of the text. And running a witch short of a cauldron created an opportunity to introduce Hecate, Witch of the Witches, rarely seen in modern adaptations but one that gives the actor carte blanche in the ethereal witchly stakes that was grabbed with both hands. The same was true of the Porter, normally a two minute “blink and it’s over” role but had more ham than on a bacon counter here. Another idea that worked was inserting Macduff into that banquet sequence, rather than just relying on the usual ghostly appearance of Banquo to frighten Macbeth witless.
With so much going on for so much of the time, one or two things inevitably got lost in translation. The singing worked a treat when multiple voices were deployed, harmonies strong and clear, tunes toe-tappingly good. But some of the solos got a bit lost due to an imbalance between instrument volume and the vocal range/power of the singer. And one number went horribly, embarrassingly flat.
More signposting might have helped too, particularly for those who didn’t know this piece backwards and might have occasionally struggled to work out just who was speaking to whom. But, hey, this is Shakespeare and his plays are great at providing recaps at convenient intervals, so if a bit passed you by, there’d be a chance to catch up later.
Its high octane stuff that’s fresh and bung full of fun. So, a big shout out to Laura Irish, who dreamt up this whole shebang, directing it as well as starring as Macbeth. Great actor and powerful, resonant singing voice that hits the back of the hall. Aidan Elliott excelled in his portrayal of the rarely seen Hecate (and was pretty convincing as Banquo too), and Gabby Anderson’s acting range was deployed to great effect as Queen Duncan, Lady Macduff, the Doctor and the aforementioned Porter.
Credit too, to Ollie Howlett for his intriguing portrayal of (Lady) Macbeth as well as pulling together a well balanced set of music, including hits such as Wagon Wheel from Old Crow Medicine Show, Little Lion Man from Mumford & Sons and an upbeat tempo arrangement of This Is War from Albi & The Wolves which bookended this innovative take on a Shakespeare classic.
By the time you’re reading this, The Barden Party may well be gone and the Fringe ended but if not, I’d highly recommend you check this out. If you miss them, they’re tottering around Scotland in September so use their website link below to check out where they’ll be popping up next. Perfect for lovers of the Bard or bluegrass. Or both.
