REVIEW: Untimely Ripped at Golden Goose Theatre 10 - 21 March 2026

‘for the good stuff, keep an eye on the fringe’ ★★★★

           'Untimely Ripped' The Story of Macduff is billed as a developmental proof of concept run. It takes Shakespeare's Macbeth and turns it into a 'Neo-Noir' crime thriller. The setting is 1970s New York and the piece is brought to us from the writer's imagined point of view of Macduff. We were treated to a shortened one hour version of the play and the program had a QR code for access to a short film that could serve as a prologue. The plan is to extend the play to a full two hours and adapt the prologue into a feature film.

           The overall idea of the project was as a divisive collaboration between the actors, with a little help from outside sources to aid with some of the technical aspects of the acting. With no director the cast seem to have done well and it was clear from the result that however they did it, they all seem to have headed in the same direction successfully. This is not the writer's first play and there are others in the pipeline. Possibly a version of Venus and Adonis and a musical were mentioned. Something indeed to look forward to if 'Untimely Ripped' is anything to go by.

           The story starts with a drug bust and a cold blooded murder by Macbeth but who gets killed is not who you would expect. We were quite some way into the play and it wasn't looking particularly like Macbeth. But patience is a virtue and in time the familiarity came through. A later chat with the writer revealed much. A massive bit of artistic licence and wild imagination had moulded a prequel to the story we know. A minor character mentioned at the beginning of the original was utilised to very good effect and gave us the new dimension of a Macbeth who done it? 

           The expansion of the lives of other minor characters pulled the play in all sorts of unexpected directions but never so far from the original that we would completely lose track of what was happening. We found out more about Macduff's family and Lady Macbeth, poor old King Duncan eventually bought it, but we knew that was going to happen and there were witches. But not as we've ever seen them before. In fact the witches were believably perfect for the 1970s and the genre.

           The accents were good, Brooklyn being one of the more distinctive American accents and so easily recognizable for the London audience. The actors all gave it a good attempt and though it might not have convinced a local New Yorker, it was surprising to learn that all bar three of the cast were non Americans. The few foreign accents that could be heard added a cosmopolitan flavour convincingly. The actors playing more than one role handled that very well, giving each a distinctive physicality and voice. A strange vocal effect was used to add atmosphere and tension. This was another of the many original innovations on show in this piece. There were good acting performances all round.

           It is great to see that there are several groups out there not just regurgitating Shakespeare but trying to bring their own input to the proceedings. Fresh new ideas show the scope of the original work and even if they deviate from the storyline, from what I've seen, the new connections to other themes and genres rarely degrade it. If you think we need a bit more of this sort of thing, then I'm happy to say that it is out there. Many of these stories which have become familiar classics have the versatility, if new creative writers are willing to apply their innovative imaginings, to evolve into something new and exciting. Much of this seems to be happening in the fringe. It is by far the best way to go and can only result in opening up Shakespeare to new and younger audiences. If the alternatives are the second best also rans who are just plodding through the text for no better reason than to give the tourists their first view of the excellent works of Shakespeare then so be it. Come to think of it, that's okay too. But for the good stuff, keep an eye on the fringe.

BOX OFFICE https://www.goldengoosetheatre.co.uk/whatson/u

Written by Pepper Jensen                     Produced by RedSeaVeil Productions

Creatives

Fayzaan Ahmed - Stage Manager

Jacob Proctor - Acting Coach

Peyton Freestone - Casting Director/Production Manager