FOUR STARS
THE magnificence and atmosphere of the Rose
Theatre is used to full advantage in a new production from theatre
company The Malachites, of Shakespeare’s Macbeth.
Dark, brooding, eerie and dramatic, the Park
Street theatre is the perfect place to stage this play with its
themes of power, obsession and madness.
In a bold move the three witches are played by men
and they open proceedings right at the back of the space beyond the
water and as far away from the audience as it’s possible to get.
From there it romps along at a fair pace largely
due to the pruning of the text that has been done to contain the
action to a mere 90 minutes.
In many ways this is unsatisfactory because
inevitably with such a cut, scenes and characters are trimmed or left
out altogether.
It also means that the characters are not
developed enough for us to either care about them or to really know
what drives them to do what they do.
That said this production is still a pretty meaty
affair thanks to the great cast, headed up by Benjamin Blyth as
Macbeth and Orla Jackson as his wife Lady Macbeth.
Macbeth’s lack of ambition to be King is the
polar opposite of that of his wife and here it is made extremely
clear. She is steely and determined and while he roars on occasion
it’s clear she’s in the driving seat when it comes to power and
ambition.
Macbeth’s descent into a madness and despair at
what he has done is also brilliantly conveyed and during the scene
where he sees Banquo’s ghost he dives under the table a quivering
wreck.
Overall this is an extremely effective production
and made all the more so in its staging.
Macbeth is on at the Rose Theatre, Park Street
until Saturday, May 30. Tickets cost £12. Visit
http://www.rosetheatre.org.uk/
or call the box office on 020 7261 9565.
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