Shogun Macbeth

The Story

SHOGUN MACBETH is an adaption which retains Shakespeare's language and historical period but transposes it to medieval Japan where warring rival clans vie to supplant the Shogunate.

VICTORIOUS in battle, the general is awarded the title Ryoshu of Akita. Almost immediately he is consumed by ambition and activates a plot to become Shogun himself. With the incitement of his wife, he begins to slaughter his way to the crown. In the background, uttering dire incantations, are 'three weird Yojos.'

The play, with a sea change, is of course 'Macbeth,' retitled 'Shogun Macbeth' and transported from 11th-century Scotland to 13th-century Japan. As adapted and directed by John R. Briggs at the Pan Asian Repertory Theater, this is - despite all the differences - a dynamic variation on the original.

It is not simply a case of shifting 'Hamlet' from Elsinore to Edwardian England, but a cultural transmutation. As Akira Kurosawa did in 'Throne of Blood' and 'Ran,' Mr. Briggs has approached Shakespeare as if he were a Japanese playwright. In a sense, 'Shogun Macbeth' is a Kurosawa film on stage.

Mr. Briggs has approached Shakespeare as if he were a Japanese playwright. In a sense, 'Shogun Macbeth' is a Kurosawa film on stage. The costumes could clothe a samurai army, warriors carry fans and the witches wear Kabuki makeup. - New York Times Review