Macbeth on wheels: Montreal author Heather O'Neill directs Shakespeare on a rolling stage

On Saturday evening, Mile End residents will be able to look out their windows and catch a performance of some of the most dramatic scenes from one of Shakespeare's greatest tragedies.

In the bed of a moving pickup truck, actors will be performing an adaptation of Macbeth, co-written and directed by Montreal author Heather O'Neill.

"It's an idea that would not have come to me if it weren't for COVID-19," O'Neill told CBC's Let's Go. "Inevitably, you start thinking of new ways to reach a live audience."

While the "crazy theatrical decision to put the play on the back of a pickup truck" seems outlandish, O'Neill said the idea was partly inspired by the Bard himself.

"This play was written in 1606 when Shakespeare himself was living through the bubonic plague and all the theatres had been shuttered," O'Neill said. "So they would all leave London and go on these caravans and present their plays in small towns and in the countryside."

She began to think that maybe taking a show on the road could work in 2020 as well.

"I loved that idea, that in the Elizabethan era they were just so adaptable to the plague," she said. "So we're presenting a Shakespeare play the same way Shakespeare himself would have done it in the time of a pandemic."

O'Neill said that because there is no fixed location — the truck leaves St. Viateur Park and arrives at Jeanne-Mance Park — "essentially everyone can have a balcony seat."

Dakota Jamal, who plays Lady Macbeth, said it's always been a dream of his to play the role of Macbeth's nagging, murderous wife.

"The second that I was approached about this idea, my face lit up and I was so excited. And I want to share that excitement with people," he said.

He said it's his first time portraying a female character onstage, and he's enjoyed being able to take a "deep dive" into the character.

Jamal will be acting opposite Joe Bagel — a performance artist — who plays the title role of Macbeth and adapted the dramatic scenes. O'Neill, on top of her behind-the-scenes duties, will perform as one of the three witches.

O'Neill's adaptation includes a selection of some of the most climactic scenes from the text, but it's accompanied with a heavy dose of comedy.

Key scenes will be repeated so that as the truck moves along, onlookers will get to see the best snippets of the performance.

The production will be hard to miss, said O'Neill, as the makeshift stage is equipped with lights, scenery and a smoke machine.

"You'll definitely hear us coming," she joked, explaining that the truck is accompanied by a group of witches on bicycles.

"When you hear that noise — the cacophony of Macbeth and his strange army of witches arriving — you can just leave your house, come out on the sidewalk, or step on the balcony and see the play passing by."

Presented as part of POP Montreal, "Macbeth: A Reimagining on the Streets" is a free one-night-only event which takes place from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Aug. 29.