Gruoch or Lady Macbeth

Gruoch is a feminist, myth-centred examination of the bereaved and abused girl who became Lady Macbeth as an act of revenge for the death of her father.

She did indeed manipulate Macbeth to kill Duncan, but not through vaulting ambition... this "icon of evil" may be the power behind the throne, but as the only woman left alive, her power is used to avenge.

A new solo performance, written by David Calcutt and performed by award-winning actor Caroline Burns Cooke.

Nominated Best Actress and Best Production Buxton Fringe

Reviews:

Caroline Cooke’s Gruoch: Lady Macbeth, was an unforgettable experience. Burns Cooke's performance was almost hypnotic as she twists her body on stage embodying the madness of Lady Macbeth. The story tells the other side of the infamous Lady Macbeth tale that most people are already familiar with. It begins by giving her a name, “Gruoch,” and takes us on a heartbreaking journey of a woman filled with a blinding sense of vengeance aimed at men who see her only as an object to be given away.

*****Prague Fringe

Intense physicality and emotional turmoil permeate Cooke’s performance that is full of the inner strength, tinged with an element of madness, that Gruoch must have possessed to endure her life. The historical record suggests a woman who proceeded calmly through life accepting her lot and behaving subserviently to the powerful men who surrounded her. Cooke, on other hand, explores what she imagines might have been hidden beneath the surface. She has a mantra of “Daughter, Good Wife, Crone” that sums up her life, the last word indicating her current condition as she gives way to anger, bitterness, resentment and vengeance. Hence her visceral performance of a woman who nevertheless had a degree of logic and rationality for her actions.

Broadway Baby *****