Reviewed by Trace Paleo, Gia On The Move
Most interesting about El Hood de Macpuerco (MacPig) is what and how a completely different culture has drawn from the comparative experience of the Scottish play. The story of Macbeth itself is almost utterly shaved, minus the highlights of violence within one of Shakespeare’s shortest works. The characters’ names have been changed, the Witches are Winos, and Spanish language has been added as well as some super cool music, all to examine first-hand, racial tension and police brutality…MacPig almost certainly a reference to law enforcement. Macpuerco is a police officer in this story.
In some ways, this avant-garde tragedy really does mimic ‘the hood’ in Shakespeare’s century when one aligns the context of the ego-driven violence of Macbeth, and the similarly ego-driven battle for power on the streets of L.A. But it’s a stretch on the text and meaning, and the production far too concise to allow the power of THEIR story to occur.
But they have their moments. The cast is utterly dedicated to their very prescient point of view. And it’s awesomely ‘street’. A completely Latino and African-American cast, there is nothing more real than their individual cultural perspectives and the consciousness of the world in which they live. And overall the voice of the piece is loud and clear, if not the construction.
It would have benefitted them so much more though, to have created a more vivid original play rather than adopt a hand-me-down. There’s an important issue being dealt with here. And we need these voices more than ever to utterly scream it out.
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