The Scottish Play Arrives.

Macbeth

Theatre Severn

Tuesday 12th September – Saturday 16th

(Matinees Daily at 2.30 pm )

“Something wicked this way comes,” So claim the crones as they predict how it will turn out for the guilt ridden Macbeth. Quite a brave prediction because something did come our way and it wasn’t wicked in any use of the word either ancient or modern. This is a flawed production.

One is always excited when going to see a new interpretation on a work. Will it be in modern dress? Maybe one might ask how will they present the text:  Will they be accessible or will they pull over the veil that makes a Shakesperean performance for a lot of people, a rather arid and sometimes dull experience? This one fell in the middle of that unflattering spectrum. There were good bits but there bits that were less so.

Choosing a relatively traditional interpretation of the narrative the cast stuck mainly to the format that one would have hoped they may have ventured from. No this was Shakespeare at it’s purest. Unafraid of all that could happen in a traditional performance on went the cast. It wasn’t long before the eyes of followers of semiotics or signs in drama, were left wondering did they really have Ug boots and crepe soles in the 11th century when this play is set. The old saying spoil the ship for a ha’pence worth of tar, springs to mind.

Atmospherically off stage the high levels of drama were accompanied by a Bodhran or drum, a penny whistle and a cello. It didn’t seem to fully underline or compliment the drama, it just sometimes got in the way of the words and one was struggling to hear the cast. At times the soundscape was so distracting and loud that the actors couldn’t be heard at all and it sounded like the action was taking place in a blacksmiths forge. However, even without the soundscape some actors were harder to hear than others and one found oneself straining forward trying to discern what was actually being said.  One issue that needed attention was the pointless pacing when speeches were being performed, an actor looks stronger and his words are also strengthened by keeping still when talking. It’s simple; do any of us really pace when we have a problem? It’s unlikely many of us do so why put it in? All of that is fixable. One would like to pretend one didn’t see the actor get clobbered on the head by the backdrop as it lowered towards the end of the play it was comedic but highly unintentional.

However, within this mixed bag we saw some lovely acting and some great characterisation. Lucy Litchfield shone as the evil power behind the throne, Lady Macbeth. Joshua Ford as Macduff put in a great shift and he was good to watch, he gave an air of strength and his presence printed itself indelibly on the stage. When Jennifer Bulcock, Zoe Vaux, and Emma Webber together made up the witches with great mystery and menace, they gave one of the best witches performance this reviewer has seen. The menace, the magic, and the mysticism were there in spades. It’s interesting to believe that this was written long before the witch hunts that followed later. The question that presents itself is why did society have such a belief in evil, with witches and ghosts and goblins? Were they simple folk or were they manipulated folk rather like we saw in later years, where servants were kept in order by the threat of God’s wrath were they to displease the master. Knowing that half the audience would have been shocked and frightened of these harbingers gave it much more credence when contextualised so. The two child performers who played Macduff’s children were excellent. Every inch the professional both; with great responsibility they fulfil their roles with aplomb. Even the young boy’s stage fighting was excellent.

Design was great offering a simplistic, almost minimalistic set was all that is needed, after all furniture can’t act. Cluttered space is displeasing, and the cast used what space they did have exceptionally well, one had no trouble understanding if one was outdoors or indoors it worked. It needs no more. The soundscape didn’t please this reviewer instead led to a source of distraction, and some of the speeches seemed gabbled. Pace in a performance isn’t about how fast you can get your words out, pace is the undulating ride that the narrative takes one on when disbelief is suspended.

So, in summary one feels that this is an OK production of Macbeth, no new ground has been broken and some opportunities may have been lost, but it is a great story, and it should produce a promising run here in Shrewsbury. It’s here all week and as always, I urge you to go and watch, enjoy and see if this is a fair review or if you disagree with me.

This is a Three and a Half Star review.

Sofia Lewis.