In turning to Shakespeare, the touring company Imitating the Dog continues to expand the range of its distinctive form of theatre(previous productions have included adaptations of novels or of film). As often, the action is presented on a stage that is almost bare, except for cameras mounted on tripods or dollies, which are operated by actor-technicians. In place of a set we see blank screens on to which the live action is streamed and integrated into pre-set projections (here, these include animations ranging from film noir cityscapes to manga cartoons).
The effect is visually and viscerally exciting, combining the fluidity of film and the immediacy of flesh-and-blood performance. But the company’s three artistic co-directors and their team are not aiming only for aesthetic effects. Pete Brooks, Andrew Quick and Simon Wainwright expose the means of production to draw attention to the fact that the performance itself is a construction: as the actors put it in the direct-to-audience opening, “context is everything”.
