Macbeth, contemporanul nostru. Între parabola politică și imagistica medievală

Abstract

The aim of this article is a brief analysis of three recent performances based on Shakespeare’s play Macbeth, but also on Eugène Ionesco’s modern rewriting of the famous tragedy. Starting from aspects related to witchcraft and occult practices existing in the text of the English playwright and inspired by the medieval imaginary, we will focus on how the directors Alessandro Serra, Botond Nagy and Silviu Purcărete try to adapt the Shakespearean dramaturgical core to the demands of various contexts in their representations. We will see that, although for certain directors the anthropological and pagan dimension of Shakespeare’s play is essential, in the attempt to transform Macbeth into “our contemporary”, most of the stage creators approach the demands of political parables, deeply anchored in our everyday life. This trend responds to the initiative of the great playwrights of the 20th century, including Heiner Müller, whose modern rewritings revealed the striking actuality of the great canonical texts.