Bell Shakespeare investigates Shakespeare’s propensity for violence

For a fascinating insight into how Shakespeare deals with violence in his plays, visit the Neilson Nutshell for The Poetry of Violence, the second instalment of Bell Shakespeare’s In a Nutshell excerpts program which opened the company’s new home at Pier 2/3 on Walsh Bay in 2022.

Led by Bell Shakespeare Artistic Director Peter Evans, the troupe of six – Lucy Bell, James Evans, Madeline Li, Nigel Poulton, Jessica Tovey and Darius Williams –perform, in ordinary street clothes, selected extracts from the plays, including Titus Andronicus, Macbeth, Henry VI, Coriolanus, Romeo and Juliet, Much Ado About Nothing and Richard 111.

The actors present their soliloquies from large boxes arranged across the three-sided stage as Evans thoughtfully explains in an informal lecture the Bard’s use of violence in his plays, which is never gratuitous.

Evans says: “It’s an unashamedly personal journey through scenes and speeches I love, focused on the various ways Shakespeare explores and defines violence. I’d encourage everyone, whether you’re new to Shakespeare or an aficionado, to come along and join us as we take a deep dive into Shakespeare’s concerns and preoccupations and the inner workings of the plays”.

The audience can expect to hear the gruesome details of the murder of Macduff’s wife and son, the assassination of Julius Caesar, and of how Titus Andronicus, in probably the most bloodthirsty of Shakespeare’s plays, bakes the heads of two of his prisoners into pies and serves them to their mother.

A highlight of the evening was the segment by Bell’s fight director Nigel Poulton, who explains the styles of fencing and the use of 17^th century swords and daggers in Romeo and Juliet.

Towards the end, Evans provided a stocktake of the methods Shakespeare used to kill off his characters, with blades right up there. Not far down was poison, and what was at the bottom of the list? Brutus’ wife Portia who kills herself by swallowing hot coals.

Do not try this at home!

The Poetry of Violence by Bell Shakespeare
Neilson Nutshell, Pier 2/3 Walsh Bay
Until September 8
https://www.bellshakespeare.com.au/in-a-nutshell