Staging possibilities: A study on the body in Chiara Guidi's Macbeth

Theatre has long grappled with the tension between verbal and physical expression. In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, theatre practitioners have increasingly sought to challenge the dominance of the spoken word, privileging corporeality as a primary means of meaning-making. Among these experimental approaches, Chiara Guidi’s Macbeth su Macbeth su Macbeth: uno studio per la mano sinistra stands out as a radical reimagining of Shakespeare’s Macbeth, deconstructing its linguistic and narrative structures to emphasize the expressive potential of the body. Drawing from the theories of Antonin Artaud, James Roose-Evans, Valentina Valentini, Bridget Escolme, Nicholas Ridout and Joe Kelleher this paper explores how Guidi’s adaptation of Macbeth redefines the theatrical experience by replacing conventional realism with a highly physical and symbolic language. It examines how corporeal representation, gesture, and spatial composition shape audience perception, particularly in two key moments of the play: Macbeth’s hallucination of the dagger and the ghostly appearence of Banquo. The study argues that through the abstraction and fragmentation of the body, Guidi’s production challenges naturalistic staging conventions and reshapes Shakespeare’s text into a sensorial and immersive experience. The research employs an interdisciplinary approach, drawing from performance studies, phenomenology, and cognitive theatre theory. A close reading of Guidi’s performance is conducted alongside an analysis of critical literature on experimental Shakespearean adaptations. Archival materials, including scholarly discussions on Socìetas Raffaello Sanzio’s theatre, are used to contextualize Guidi’s staging techniques. The study also engages with audience perception theories to assess how the absence or transformation of key visual elements (such as Banquo’s ghost and the illusion of the dagger) alter the reception and interpretation of the play. The outcome of the close analysis of Guidi’s adaptation suggests that this production dismantles conventional theatrical structures by foregrounding the body as both a symbolic and narrative force. The hallucinated dagger, through movement and light manipulation, ceases to be a mere visual illusion, or theatrical prop, and instead becomes the acted deed performed by Macbeth. Further, it breaks the representational rules, signifying beyond its mere presence. It has become absence, yet perceived it becomes the embodied figure of both Macbeth’s and the audience’s imagination. Likewise, Banquo’s ghost is never physically represented, yet his presence is conjured through the rhythm of the actors’ movements and the interplay of voice, sound, and absence. This refusal to materialize certain elements reinforces the audience’s active role in constructing meaning, compelling them to engage with the production on a deeper cognitive and sensorial level. This study demonstrates that Guidi’s Macbeth disrupts the traditional hierarchy of text over performance, allowing the body to emerge as a site of resistance, transformation, and meaning. By erasing the boundary between stage and spectator, Guidi’s adaptation creates a theatre of pure possibility, where materiality and imagination converge. Her experimental approach challenges the very essence of representation, offering a radical rethinking of how Shakespeare’s works can be staged and experienced in contemporary performance. Thus, theatre will be studied as a dynamic, fertile space, where the performative act is no longer perceived as an external transfiguration of meaning, but rather as a creative space where, by reconciling the audience’s imaginative effort and the actors’ bodily participation, new meanings can arise.