Macbeth

Firstly I would like to thank Shakespeare at the George for giving me the opportunity to review their production of Macbeth.  This is my first review as the new Regional Rep for District one.

Let me declare here and now that Macbeth is possibly my favourite of Shakespeare’s plays and the Shakespeare at the George Company have a reputation for staging quality productions of which they should be very proud.

On arrival at The George the atmosphere was buzzing and as a dry night was forecast, we were all able to relax and enjoy the entertainment ahead.  The simple staging was perfect, and reminiscent of the minimal staging at The Globe, where necessary changes can be made with little or no disruption to the flow of the play. 

The opening scene was accompanied by a stirring…slightly ‘Hollywood’…soundtrack and we got our first glimpse of the infamous three witches.  Steph Hamer, Paula Incledon-Webber and Alex Priestley created mystical, magical witches.   No mean feat given that it was still broad daylight and they did not have the advantages, at this point, of atmospheric theatre lights to enhance the scene.  I would have liked to see a little more evidence of the warrior when Banquo stepped on stage, perhaps some dirt and blood would have helped the audience believe that a bloody battle had been won.

Macbeth himself is a complex character; driven by ambition and yet full of self-doubt.  It would be easy to dislike Macbeth, he is a murderer after all, but it is down to the actor’s skills that we do have some sympathy for him.  We see that Lady Macbeth is instrumental in the choices he makes as she seductively persuades him to kill Duncan and it is all downhill from there, for Macbeth and his Lady. 

It is the banquet scene where the audience witnesses Macbeth’s dramatic decline into insanity.  His mind is tortured by guilt and distorted with fear as he sees the ghost of Banquo.  Martin Woodruff (Macbeth) ably portrayed this complex mix of emotions but, as most of Macbeth’s decline was presented in profile, I think it was a missed opportunity for the audience to witness, face-on, all of the turmoil that Macbeth was suffering.  This was determined by the appearance of the ghost of Banquo, which could have been left to the imagination.  Banquo appearing where he did, forced the actors to look to their left, as did the audience, thus taking the focus off Macbeth.

Macbeth is a challenging play for all the actors involved and the Shakespeare at the George Company did their very best to achieve the vision of their esteemed director Richard Brown.  My congratulations to all of the cast but in particular to Martin Woodruff as Macbeth, Meg Dixon as Lady Macbeth and Simon Maylor as Macduff. 

The sound and lighting was slick and the sell-out audience were thoroughly engaged and entertained.

Shakespeare at the George has become a local treasure and I look forward to their 2014 production…The Merchant of Venice.

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