By John Knox
Baboons, the survival of the fittest, music to make your heart weep and philosophy. This is Alexander McCall Smith’s latest production, The Okavango Macbeth, an opera set in Africa and re-telling Shakespeare’s story but with monkeys, not humans, acting out the parts.
For two nights only (20 and 21 April), this rare production – originally performed in The No.1 Ladies’ Opera House in Botswana – is being given a Scottish outing in the more restrained atmosphere of the Queen’s Hall in Edinburgh. McCall Smith was in the front row on the opening night, along with the composer Tom Cunningham.
The story of regicide is beautifully retold by Ronan Busfield as Macbeth, Andrew McTaggart as King Duncan and Beth Mackay as a brilliant Lady Macbeth.
But the chorus of baboons, provided by Edinburgh Studio Opera, are the other stars of the show. Their singing is pure and strong, especially the sopranos, full of commitment and tenderness. And Cunningham’s music, a gentle jazzy calypso, allows them to sing their hearts out. They are superbly accompanied by a nine-piece band, Mr McFall’s Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Michael Bawtree.
Inevitably with McCall Smith, there is a lot of philosophy in this story. The baboons are observed by three intrepid scientists who constantly debate whether they should interfere. The baboons also have plenty of opinions about the scientists, but they too decide not to interfere in the human side of the story.
The conclusion of the opera is typical, hopeful McCall Smith, as the chorus sings: “Nothing endures or lasts for ever, even the rule of kings … there is always change, yet love is never far away.”
The chorus has some wonderful moments, as when they worship the sky and the sun, or when King Duncan dies, or in these lines:
On whitened sand the river flows,
Past palms and trees the water goes.
The sky above is empty white
The circling hawk, the watching kite.
No sign of man, he is not here
Nature thus need not show him fear.
Eden was as this land is now
The creatures here may show us how.
The director, Nicholas Ellenbogen, was faced with a tough task to bring this show from Africa to Scotland, and from the world of the baboons to the world of Shakespeare’s humans. And he had to manage with minimal props and costumes, presumably because of the cost.
This was a shame because, while the singers stick their bottoms out a lot and wear awkward head-masks, their performance deserves full scenery and costumes. Perhaps one day this show will get the West End treatment. It deserves to.
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