Blood Will Have Blood

By the pricking of my thumbs, something frustrating this way comes – a less-than-successful, increasingly baffling riff on Macbeth that fails to live up to its potential.

ImmerCity’s interactive show plays on the borders of Shakespeare’s Scottish play, dropping audience members into a war-torn land suffering under Macbeth’s corrupt, bloody rule. Via headphones, we learn that we’re an amnesiac who has awoken clutching a pouch of objects, dirt under our nails, at the mercy of a witch.

There’s an atmospheric vibe to the folklore tone of the narration and a challenging note of moral ambivalence to the witch’s elemental view of the endless cycles of bloodshed. The savage Scottish territory of Macbeth, the lawlessness of its supernaturalism, is ripe for exploration. But that doesn’t really happen here.

Instead, we get side-tracked into washing rags and endlessly practising pretend stabbing with sticks, under the fierce glare of a mute, finger-pointing witch. In a small room in C nova, this feels less like theatrical immersion and more like nagging. The more portentous dialogue could be ripped straight out of one of those "choose your own adventure" books from the eighties.

The eventual reveal of who you are is pretty cool, offering a sideways view on the play that refreshes certain familiar elements of the story. But while the show raises interesting questions, it fails to follow through on them in a satisfying fashion. By its wispy ending, Blood Will Have Blood has lost its way, becoming as insubstantial as witches vanishing on a blasted heath.