The story behind the story of The Real Lady Macbeth

Stuart Delves, one of Dark Angels’ founders, has an old play that’s about to embark on a new tour.

The Real Lady Macbeth sees Macbeth and his Queen Grouch tell their own story and was first performed at Edinburgh Fringe in 1982, where Stuart was awarded Fringe First.

Ahead of its UK & Ireland tour, we caught up with Stuart to find out a bit more about how the play came about.

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Susanne: Can you tell us how the play first came about and why you decided to rework Macbeth?

Stuart: I was with my friend David Kins-Gordon who had invited me to write my first play Mock Hero’s Heron, which won a Scotsman Fringe First Award in 1976 when I was just 20 and was still an undergrad at Oxford University.

After watching True West by Sam Shepard in a production at The National with Anthony Sher and Bob Hoskins we went for a drink, and he suggested we go back to the Fringe with a new play. And I muttered something about having an ‘inkling’ that there was a true story about Macbeth and what about investigating that.

Then he said that his then girlfriend, actress Patti Sheehan, had an old family friend who was the Laird of Dunsinane and, that he had written a monogram about the real Macbeth and his queen, Grouch.

‍So, we went north, saw the site of Macbeth’s Castle and I was handed my research on a plate.

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Most people will have some familiarity with the story; what makes it relevant to today's audiences? 

Shakespeare’s Macbeth will always be relevant, just as the Greek Myths are, because they reveal a truth about human nature. 

Macbeth looks at the consequence of vaulting ambition, conscience and a remaining nobility even in the face of disaster. 

The Real Lady Macbeth puts universal and historical truth in the scales. Macbeth is of course a giant of a play, but it does peddle some heavy-duty fake news.

If you had to explain the story of The Real Lady Macbeth to someone who knows nothing about Shakespeare, what would you say?

Macbeth is a play in which The Fates are represented as witches. Shakespeare wrote this play for King James VI and I, a man who was fixated by witches.

Throughout its history the play has been plagued by disasters – theatres catching fire, actors falling ill - to such an extent that in the world of theatre people refer to it as ’The Scottish Play’ as if to invoke the name of Macbeth would be to invite disaster. A bit like ‘He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named’ in Harry Potter.

Popular belief is that this is because the play invokes evil, and there is indeed a scene in which Lady Macbeth does just that.

My ’take’ is different: Shakespeare’s play has been haunted by the spirits of the true Macbeth and his Queen Grouch, as each time it is played their names are besmirched. 

The Real Lady Macbeth weaves all these elements together and gives the 11th Century Grouch and Macbeth a chance to tell their story.

It’s as if the historical pair have been forgotten and are outliers in the cosmic field. The Real Lady Macbeth is a kind of Family Constellation that brings them back into collective consciousness.

Did you need to revise or update the play for this latest production?

‍Remarkably, after 44 years I found the play still pretty much held up. I excised some lines that seemed either overblown, too dense or too much of a mouthful for the actors.

I rewrote the opening to reflect that this production was being played by four teenage girls, but you wouldn’t really know it if you’d seen the initial production. Subtle changes. 

With it being performed by a youth theatre, what does that bring to the production?

EYT is run by wife and husband team Lynne and Glenn Vaughan. Lynne had approached me back in 1982 asking to do a production in Redditch, near Birmingham, which I went to see.

24 years later Lynne was living in Brussels and asked to revive the play again. I went over with my young family and was delighted with the production which won another award at FEATS 2006 (Festival of European Anglophone Theatrical Societies).

Fast forward another 20 years to January this year and I get a text from Lynne saying that she was still haunted by the character of Queen Grouch and could they do it again! Of course, I said.

What I was to then find out was that in this production the four parts were going to be played by four teenage girls. This changed my reaction from detached/pleased to intrigued/involved.

This felt really fresh, bringing new life and energy to the play. I immediately suggested they bring the production to the UK.  

I’ve recently seen it played in both Amsterdam and Den Haag. The young girls are doing a great job and growing in stature on every performance. And there’s a delightful ebullience. 

What sparked your interest in Shakespeare initially, and in particular, Macbeth? What do you think it is now that gives his work such enduring appeal?

I remember reading Richard III in class aged 10 or thereabouts and liking the battle scenes. Apart from that nothing made any sense.

Two years later we read The Tempest, and I had to play Ariel. I remember awkwardly navigating the rows of desks, flapping my elbows hoping everyone would imagine wings. But my classmates just fell about laughing. I obviously looked ridiculous, to the delight of the headmaster, whose class it was and who was a monstrous bully.

Years later I was studying Macbeth, King Lear and The Tempest for A levels/Oxbridge and I fell in love with Shakespeare’s writing. These remain my favourite three from his works.

Are you working on anything new for the stage?

Yes! This revival has re-ignited my appetite to write for the stage again. I am working on a new idea derived in part from Italo Calvino’s The Castle of Crossed Destinies/The Tavern of Crossed Destinies. 

My play is called Aeropuerto de Destinos Cruzados - a Spanish title for several reasons, but in part because destinos means both destination and destiny. (The Spanish title might also be an in Dark Angels reference to Finca El Tornero de Rebollar, where I ran the Advanced Course from 2006-2017.)

In the play, four characters are detained at an international airport for carrying something supposedly suspicious in their suitcase. Who are they? Where are they going/returning from? I am using Improvisation to develop who these characters might be and because this approach is new to my practice I have received some funding to support this. It’s very exciting. 

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The Real Lady Macbeth performed by EYT+ is on its UK & Ireland tour in July. Visit the English Youth Theatre for dates and tickets.

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