Crown of Blood is the newest project by Sheffield-based theatre company, Utopia Theatre. Utopia Theatre’s focus is on African theatre, and they seek to promote writers and performers from the African diaspora. Researched and developed at Sheffield Theatres and written by Oladipo Agboluaje, this play is an adaptation of Macbeth, replacing the Scottish Highlands with the political landscape of 19th century Yorubaland. The Oyo Empire is gripped by civil war as Macbeth and Lady Macbeth become Aderemi and Oyebisi, a high-ranking soldier and his vengeful wife, sworn to take revenge on the King who took away her noble birthright and kept her as a slave.
This atmosphere is immediately evoked as the audience enters. Kevin Jenkins’ set is minimal: a sand-coloured floor, a throne backed by Yoruba veranda poles, a casket and a stick. A liminal space, this effortlessly transforms into throne rooms, clandestine meeting locations and houses at will. A red cloth creates boundaries across the stage, separating the rich and the poor, the men and the women, and finally suspending the throne high above the stage. I enjoyed this visual metaphor, especially as it highlighted the breakdown of boundaries with the death of the King (sorry, Macbeth has been out for about 400 years – spoilers are fair game) as the lines between these groups start to blur.
The class distinctions are brought to the forefront in this production, much more than the original. Aderemi is a blacksmith’s son, which not only impacts his own resolve, but also gives the Prime Minister grounds to deny him the throne. I enjoyed this depth and I felt it added a lot to Aderemi’s character, but I do feel as though more thought could have gone into how this would resolve when the play did. The corrupting power of ambition felt a little targeted when it was the rich court officials and Crown Prince who defeated Aderemi’s reign, ‘restoring’ the kingdom to the hands of someone lucky enough to be born into it. However, the ending of this version is a little more ambiguous than the original, perhaps highlighting that just because all has been put right, does not mean the people in charge are up to the job.
My favourite deviation from the plot of the original was the character of Oyebisi, occupying the same narrative space as Lady Macbeth. The role has been expanded to have a complex backstory, explaining where her rage and ambition come from: once a Princess, the King in Crown of Blood took over and enslaved her. The counsel she gives Aderemi is motivated by this hate for the man who stole her life, and adds another element to the tragedy. Kehinde Bankole plays this role beautifully, with both tenderness and steel resolve as the moment demands. She shone especially brightly in the scene where she begged the sister of the diviner she killed, to forgive her for all she had done. Mirroring the famous ‘out, damn spot!’ scene, we saw her internal battle as she came to grips with all she had done, and all she was still set out to do. Her chemistry with Deyemi Okanlawon as Aderemi was undeniable, and the two were an incredibly powerful duo.
Okanlawon portrayed Aderemi with incredible poise and energy. We saw his descent from honorable soldier to corrupt Regent in a totally believable way, and I enjoyed his use of animalistic sounds and poses to illustrate the ambition and brutality overtaking him. This was also amplified by the impeccable costume design of Kevin Jenkins, who put Aderemi in a leopard skin cape, over his military uniform. This further gave the impression of someone ready to do anything for his ambition, with no cost too high. The costumes in the show were unilaterally incredible, adding so much colour and dynamism to the stage.
This production had so much life: the colourful costumes bright against the pale floor, the singing and drumming and the powerful performances not just from the leads but all members of cast, made this so engaging and moving as we hurtled towards the bloody end. Agboluaje’s adaptation makes perfect sense, and this new version of Macbeth speaks to themes both old and new.
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Crown of Blood is playing in the Crucible Theatre until February 7th, and subsequently touring.
