Macbeth

Synopsis

The Scottish Play - theatrical types consider saying its name to be unlucky! Thrust into power by his overwhelming desires and an over ambitious wife, Macbeth finds his only security is to murder and murder again. From "When shall we three meet again" to "is this a dagger I see before me" this is a powerful Shakespearean drama.

Our Review:

Maxwell Cooter - 25 March 2010

Here's a production full of “night's black agents”, literally throwing dark shadows across the stage. Declan Donnellan's fast-paced interpretation allied to Nick Ormerod's stark, monochrome set emphasises the darkness within the play, with little contrasting hues.

This is a stripped-down Macbeth, both linguistically (there's no “Double, double, toil and trouble… “) and materially – props are kept to a minimum. By removing the supernatural elements – the 'witches' are voiced by members of company– it's made clear that the Macbeths' murderous desires are deeply held within them. While it's an intriguing concept, it doesn't quite explain Banquo's hearing of the prophecies too.

Will Keen's Macbeth has little of the martial spirit that the other characters describe. His little spurts of nervous laughter are strangely disconcerting but most distracting is an odd occasional hand wiggle, akin to someone tickling a trout, that he uses to emphasise cer...

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Latest User Review

tinkerbell101 - 10 November 2010:

Hated this performance thought it made shakespeare alot more confusing than it needed to be. Despite knowing the story myself to poeple who may not have been clear they wouldnt have been able to pick it up and despite knowing about the story i still couldnt work out who was who they confused the characters by multiroling and it just didnt work. i understand it was a modern take on it but i have seen modern productions of this before and they were done imaginatively but keepinjg to the stotry. I couldnt fault the singing but that even felt like it was out of place. it was messy and confusing when there was singign and talking going on....what to listen to. I was really looking forward to seeing this production and was v disapointed :( ...

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