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A pictorial response by Young Critics’ Circle member Tom Bishop (06-Jan-09) [ Young Critics' Circle Review ]
Responses from our Young Critics’ Circle Silver Group (27-Oct-08) [ Young Critics' Circle Review ]
"Blood will have blood."
Shakespeare’s Macbeth follows the Scottish war hero through his steady downfall, his fatal flaw being an ambitious and obsessive desire for power.
Director Lucy Pitman-Wallace sets this version of Macbeth in the middle ages, keeping the traditional Shakespearean atmosphere and language. The design of this version is certainly original, the authentic musky smell of forest bark dominates the auditorium, and trunks of tall trees cast sinister shadows across the stage. Torn strips of gauze separate inside and outside; one particular strip plays an unexpected role in the final scene.
With a flash of lightning the three witches start both halves of the performance, exploding on stage to screams from a surprised audience. The witches dominated the performance space, almost faceless beneath their threatening and dramatic costumes. They lingered on stage during darker moments of the play, a technique which although symbolic, I felt detracted from the main action. The witches’ presence at a death however was effective and reminded the audience of the sinister nature of the play. The witches and Banquo’s ghost, (Martin Ledwith) both created an uneasy atmosphere, heightened by particularly effective lighting techniques.
As all the cast speak with Scottish accents, the production has an authentic feel. Claire Brown was particularly powerful in the role of Lady Macduff, her panic was harrowing. Liam Brennan, playing Macbeth, gave an impressive performance in the scene with Banquo’s ghost, portraying Macbeth in such a way the audience empathised, at first, with his blood thirsty character. The portrayal of Lady Macbeth (Allison McKenzie) was cold and manipulative from the start; it was difficult to empathise, although her steady decline into madness gave the audience a sense of guilt and remorse. Although Macbeth and his wife were obviously in love, perhaps there was a little too much sexual desire between the couple, leading the audience to assume Macbeth had other motivations for obeying his wife’s inhumane request to kill the King.
The climax of this production was the final scene; the impressive sword fight looked spontaneous, and the last death in this tragedy was symbolised brilliantly.
by Rosie Preston
MACBETH By William Shakespeare. Directed by Lucy Pitman-Wallace
Pitman-Wallace tackles Shakespeares briefest play with the confidence and gusto it deserves. Macbeth follows the murderous antics and mental decline of a power-hungry thane and his scheming wife in medieval Scotland. Seduced by the prophesized possibility of the crown, Macbeth sets off on a domino-effect killing spree and plunges his homeland into a reign of tyranny and fear.
Immediately Lucy Osbourne’s set and its accompanying smell wow you as you step into the auditorium, much like a scratch n sniff experience. The translucent torn drapes behind which visions appear, smoke and sound effects impose a hallucinogenic state on the audience at times; dont misinterpret this, it is an entirely positive reflection. Despite the unnecessary offstage music, though a fantastic, fitting score, the whole technical side is perfect.
Liam Brennan delivers a heartless but strangely endearing Macbeth, though he is doubtfully the kindly man Lady M declares him he fully harnesses the demeanor of a disintegrating self. His dagger soliloquy is flawless; he rightly abolishes the melodrama many actors bring to the role. Allison McKenzie is not quite the sinister, controlling Lady Macbeth expected, but her Act II madness is a welcome change and she handles it masterly.
Christopher Brand is a tough and convincingly grief-stricken Macduff, with a hint of cuddly-bearness about him. Jimmy Chisholm, a multi-roled crackerjack, shines as a wonderfully funny Porter. The rest of the cast are excellent, with a spooky trio of witches who shoulder their supporting roles well.
Act I, despite the competence in every aspect, still lacks spirit. However, it picks up significantly in Act II and ends on a satisfyingly dramatic note. It mercifully lacks gimmicks and is a blissfully authentic, traditional production.
by Hazel Monaghan
Macbeth Macbeth, arguably one of the most famous plays written by one of the world’s most recognised playwrights, William Shakespeare. Co-produced with Edinburgh’s Royal Lyceum Theatre and directed by Lucy Pitman-Wallace, who is responsible for the award winning production of ‘The Burial at Thebes’ the performance was certain to be observed by a full house.
The audience were surprised to be greeted by smell of bark, which was scattered along the unconventional set, losing sight of the regular stage boundaries and venturing further into the twisted world of 11th century rural Scotland.
The opening scene was incredible: Three obscure witches were lit by flashes of lighting whilst the unexpected sound of thunder made some of the audience scream.
Award- winning Liam Brennan’s portrayal of Macbeth, a man obsessed with power and the witches’ prophecies for his future, was compelling. His authentic accent and acting talent created an idealistic Macbeth, exceeding the melodramatic style of some of the other members of the cast. These over-the-top performances sometimes appeared comical and lost the meaning of their ominous dialogue.
However, there were genuine funny moments. The mood of the play was lifted momentarily when King Duncan appeared drunk on stage. His antics included falling over and interjecting random comments such as (about alcohol) "It provokes a desire but takes away the performance!" added a contemporary edge, making the play more suitable to an adult audience rather than one that will write about Macbeth in their SATs examinations.
With the ending as spectacular as the beginning, this co-production of Macbeth was one of the most thrilling performances at the playhouse yet.
by Rachael Hoy
Macbeth
Directed by Lucy Pitman-Wallace
Chillingly introduced by the three witches accompanied by flashes of lightning, the audience prepare themselves for what at first appears to be a gripping, medievally themed treat. Medieval it was. Gripping and special in any senses of the words, it was not.
On the more positive side, the costumes and set were designed well, and I particularly enjoyed the sinister drapery that deviously drowned the infamous three witches. The Scottish accents were pleasant on the ear and all the actors, good or bad, at least seemed convinced themselves by the parts they were playing.
Allison McKenzie who played Lady Macbeth is the passionate and possessed madwoman that Shakespeare always intended her to be in all the right places and more, in fact often the wrong places too. Overdoing the psychotic shaky hands, heavy breathing and into-the-distance-staring makes Lady Macbeth come across as a one dimensional character. Little other than crazed anger-driven passion is released from her role and I would have liked to have felt more sympathy with her character, sympathy that I did indeed find for Macbeth.
Macbeth was played by Liam Brennan and I believe that this man put his heart and soul into his performance without completely losing himself in the character. This is something that McKenzie did and I feel that her character suffered as a result. While we empathize with Macbeth and see his innocence and uncontrollability rather than his power-hungry murderous side, this was not the case for his wife. The relationship between husband and wife; king and queen, is sensuous, sexual and uncomfortable to watch yet at the same time disconcertedly convincing.
In what is otherwise a very serious and grim play, the audience is entertained by the porter (played by Jimmy Chisholm) with an infectious laugh who brings a short, but memorable episode of senseless humour and comedy to the evening during the Second Act.
This performance won’t change your life but if you’re new to Shakespeare or even just Macbeth itself then it’s an easy to watch and educational experience. However, if you are a regular theatre-goer and thus already experienced in Shakespearean performance then I would avoid this production at the cost that it’s probably nothing new that you won’t have already seen before.
Overall, a safe production that doesn’t attempt to push any kind of theatrical boundaries and is pretty much what you’d expect of a Macbeth production. Nothing more, nothing less.
by Rebecca Coxon
Review: Macbeth
Macbeth, the Scottish play, directed by Lucy Pitman Wallace is a piece of Shakespearian masterpiece. I feel it is unnecessary to describe any of the plot line to you, as the play is so well known; but if you don’t know, all you need to know is that Macbeth is one of Shakespeare’s greatest tragedies; and that at the Playhouse the tragedy is being relived in all its original heart wrenching drama. I think the main glory of this production is its closeness to the original script; this show has no modern quirks, arty interpretations or invented plot lines. This is Shakespeare pure and simple on stage, with Scottish accents and all. Macbeth, played by Liam Brennan is a classic pitiable tragic hero, who despite his murderous ways, was still enfolded into the hearts of the audience as he descended into reckless madness, and it was as the second half progressed that Macbeth’s character really developed into a truly unfortunate and compelling form. In fact I was beyond impressed with all the actors’ interpretations of the tricky but masterful Shakespeare, and as they spewed the verse, I have never seen quite so much impassioned spit ejected onto the stage; there were quite literally fountains as the actors took on their roles so completely that they almost lost control! There was the same ardour between Macbeth and his wife, the entwined fervour for each other and tension between the characters was wonderful and shocking to see on the stage. It was sometimes hard to appreciate the acting on Lady Macbeth’s part as it became a bit (excuse the word) ’samey’ in the first half, with repeated hand gestures, but in Act two she really came into her own as an insane sleepwalker. The set was brilliantly simplistic, and this only proved to emphasise the intense zeal of the acting on it. The set had a surprise though, and towards the end shivers were sent down my spine as blood dripped down the canvas banners... However the truly spooky bit of this show is the witches, and their synchronised swooping in bandages and veiled faces. It is purely sickening each time they bend satisfied over a freshly cut down body.
And so, in conclusion, if you love Shakespeare, and want to see it with no tweaks or fiddling; if you love a bit of passion and screaming, and if you happen to love Scottish accents (me!) then this production of Macbeth is sure to fulfil your needs.
by Rebecca White
Macbeth
As soon as you entered the theatre, the Macbeth set hit you with the scent of the woods which arose from the bark on the floor of the stage. This immediate sense enabled the audience to be transported into the setting of the play, even though it may have been an unpleasant stench. Macbeth is an eerie play, which surrounds the idea of the character Macbeth and Lady Macbeth becoming obsessed with the premonitions that the witches confess to Macbeth at the beginning of the play. Macbeth shows the deceitful and conniving ways that people perform in order to receive the power that they want.
The actors portrayed the roles exceedingly well, due to the characterisation of the particular role played and the over emphasis on the characters. This was a good technique to use for the witches particularly, as their costume covered the whole of their bodies, so only gestures and body language could only suggest to the audience the type of characters that the witches were. The costumes used are quite similar between the types of characters. The witches have all of their body’s covered in dingy, white dresses, with rags coming off all over the dresses. They then have a headpiece which covered their whole head, with netting over the face and rags coming off the rest of the head.
The focus of the actors really emphasised how previous actions have affected them. This was shown in Lady Macbeth’s scene where she was sleepwalking and trying to rub off those ‘damn spots!’ This scene really emphasised her mental state through the way she stared into the lamp while she walked down the steps and when she continually tried to rub out the blood she could picture in her mind. The two actors onstage at that time narrated her actions and this showed that she was being monitored for her health, as the deeds her and her husband had committed were taking over her being.
The focus of the actors’ eyes, the body language and the gestures used stressed the importance of the character needed to be shown. For example, when Macbeth and Lady Macbeth were first reunited in the play, they showed sexual tension between them. This helped to show that the couple were very strong when together and showed that they had a lot of love shared between them. This scene also shows a difference in genres in the play, which may therefore appeal to more audience members.
The humour of the porter was perfect, as it entitled the audience members to have a relief from the sinister and seriousness of the overall play. This therefore also appeals to more audience members and may grab the attention of the audience that may have become slightly bored with the dark, solemn tone of the play.
The set was very realistic, which gave the audience a true deception of where the play was set. The floor of the set was covered in bark, with one large circle of wood to give the effect of a large tree trunk. Even this may have looked effective when actors stood and acted on it, it was very hard for people sitting in the stalls to see other actions or changes to the set that occurred.
The lighting was extremely effective, especially at the beginning of each Act; they began with flashes of light used to create lightening and the sounds of thunder projected across the auditorium, which surprised the audience and it caught their attention immediately. This is a good factor, as the audience definitely focus on the play instantly. Also, it helped to heighten the fact that the witches were evil and sparked storms around the people they crossed, which mainly ended in destruction of those particular lives. In addition to this, it seemed as if they were conjuring up their next phase of torture.
The end scene where Macbeth is killed is very significant, as it shows the end of an era. Once his throat has been cut, a cloth at the top of the set is drenched in a red liquid representing blood. This shows a very sinister side to the play, where it illustrates that the power of Macbeth has been conquered and it emphasises the fact that Macbeth has been killed. A drape of the English rose is then placed over the balcony, demonstrating that the new king of Scotland was the James VI of England (now James I). This is definitely an authoritative scene and an excellent way to finish the exhilarating play of Macbeth.
Overall this adaptation of the well known play, by director Lucy Pitman-Wallace, was exceedingly powerful and grasped the audience throughout.
by Jessica Roper
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