Elsie and Norm’s Macbeth

Well, I have seen William Shakespeare’s Macbeth in different forms and in different settings, but this is the first time I have seen a production set in someone’s living room with all the parts played by two people. The play written by John Christopher Wood revolves around Elsie and Norm who are bored with playing Trivial Pursuit, and watching reality TV on a Saturday evening, so for entertainment they decide to perform one of Shakespeare’s most iconic and darkest tragedies, namely Macbeth.  Norm has read the play, but he thinks it’s too long, also “Shakespeare’s jokes aren’t funny, and the poetry doesn’t rhyme”, so he decides to rewrite the script in a language that he says most people will understand and also add some jokes. So, with the help of Norms script, a range of homemade costumes and props Elsie and Norm set out to bring a bit of culture to their Saturday night and what a comical experience it was.

Directed by Cath Dunne, this was a very fast paced, wordy and funny interpretation of the Scottish play which resulted in a very entertaining production that included two wonderfully eccentric performances from Lisa Tatler as Elsie and Andrew Sloman as Norm who both complemented each other and worked together excellently, which was a very important requisite for the success of this play. They were supported by a large stuffed panda dressed in a kilt in the part of Banquo and a smaller stuffed panda as his son Fleance, with John Dudley in the small cameo roles of the wireless announcer and William. I must congratulate Lisa and Andrew on their versatility, comic timing and on how they maintained the many characters they were playing as they all had different accents, personalities and mannerisms, each also had their own costume. These characters could quite easily have got lost or confused when changing from one person to another and due to the nature of the play, the pace could quite easily have been affected as well, however, both Lisa and Andrew were able to pull it off impeccably as character and costume changes were very slick and spot on which meant that the stage wasn’t empty at all there was always something going on, their characterizations were quite brilliant and funny. The dialogue was clear and could be heard and easily followed. I am also very happy to say that Lisa has a lovely singing voice and her rendition of “That Old Black Magic” and interaction with the audience while playing a witch was very enjoyable.

Although there was little regard for Shakespeare’s famous play, there were times when the writer used some of his original script, which personally i feel helped to keep the storyline on track, and I wonder if that may have been the authors intension. It could be said that knowledge of the original story would help understand what was happening on stage, however others might conclude that it was not a necessity in the the scheme of things, or for the audience’s enjoyment of the production, I would like to hope that seeing this production may just encourage someone who is reluctant to enter the world of Shakespeare and his work to take the opportunity to see one of his original plays.

The set designed by Alan Gosling was well balanced, not cluttered and all props were necessary, so it still looked like a home but did not distract the audience's attention from the action on stage and provided the actors with a good platform to work on. The set and action were also enhanced with well-designed lighting by Andrea Shacksmyth-Claire & Team LX. which was operated by Neil Yates with sound operated by Debbie Moss and Pete Beswick Well done to Stage Manager Chris Ratcliff, Scenic Artist Bob Jessamine, the SDC construction team and all backstage crew, props and workers, Costumes were supplied by the cast with support from Michele Martin, they needed to look like they had been gathered together from Elsie and Norms wardrobe and belongings and the result was a very eclectic comedic mix of apparel that was just right for the characters being portrayed.

Congratulations to everyone, including front of house who were involved in bringing this very funny entertaining play to the stage. My friend and I really enjoyed our evening.

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.