Shakespeare for Breakfast - C Theatre at Lauriston Hall - Edinburgh Fringe Review

Deemed a ‘staple of the fringe’, having been back every season since 1992, ‘Shakespeare for Breakfast’ gets fringe goers up and about early with the promise of some Shakespearean fun along with a free croissant.

This fun and family friendly take on ‘Macbeth’, minus all the gory stuff, is a marvellously silly way to start your day as we see a the talented cast play a gang of enthusiastic amateur performers, more used to pantomime then the bard, stage their unique interpretation on the tragedy, complete with music, confusion over complex language and a kiddie corner section.

Amaru Narváez Reyes, Lani Calvert, Lucy Bryan, Michael Gatenby and Rhiannon Willans are a brilliant team (using performer’s real names throughout) who create a warm and welcoming environment for all ages as they cleverly perform ‘Macbeth’ in a way that everyone can understand and enjoy. This is a production that doesn’t take itself too seriously, injecting silliness and extra doses of fun at every opportunity, be that in the am dram companies ‘reach for the stars’ mantra to get everyone focused again, the musician Michael’s want to be an actor rather than the piano player, Lani’s plea to get a panto style catchphrase into a Shakespeare play and Rhiannon’s childlike glee every time they get to be on stage. Director Lucy tries to keep everything on track, whilst keeping it friendly and gore free, to hilarious effect.

Shakespeare’s work is complicated, and it can be difficult to work around that fact and make it accessible, especially when you want to bring in audiences that are both new to the genre or big fans of the great writer’s work, but this team at C Theatre make it work. Both the children and the adults in the audience are kept engaged and thoroughly entertained for the hour running time, with plenty of laughter filling the theatre space at Lauriston Hall.

This inventive and new version of ‘Macbeth’ is silly and light-hearted, and cleverly somehow manages to maintain the core elements of the famously tragic tale. As the performers themselves state, you don’t want anything too heavy at 10 ‘o’ clock in the morning, and this show is a perfectly gentle way to kick off a day of theatre.  

With its fun for all the family approach to the intricate and complex world of the bard, a fun use of music, choreography and props and an overall sense of friendly approachability, it is really no surprise that ‘Shakespeare for Breakfast’ has been delighting fringe goers of all ages for so many years.