Macbeth
★★★☆☆ Fractured
Festival Theatre: Tue 23–Sat 27 Oct 2018
Review by Hugh Simpson
There is a peculiar absence of majesty at the heart of the UK National Theatre’s touring production of Macbeth, at the Festival Theatre until Saturday.
The production, directed by Rufus Norris, came in for some harsh criticism during its London run. Now with a new cast, it remains an odd beast – visually striking, and boasting some excellent acting, but unsatisfactory on several levels.
Despite the contention that this production is set ‘now, after a civil war’, there is nothing that is particularly urgent or contemporary about it. Instead, there is an odd assortment of modern and timeless props, mirrored by an equally strange collection of acting styles.
This means that nothing really coheres. Michael Nardone (who would seem to be a dream piece of casting as Macbeth) is an almost apologetic figure who becomes king more by accident than anything else. Kirsty Besterman’s Lady Macbeth starts sounding like one of the more middle-class characters from a Mike Leigh film, but gains in pathos as the play progresses.
While both performances are impressive in themselves, there is no compelling reason to believe in them as a couple. This disconnection is felt across the whole company – Patrick Robinson’s Banquo has a rare dignity, but there is nothing to suggest that he and Macbeth are seasoned comrades-in-arms.
Everyone suffers from apparently being instructed to speak the verse oddly, with much of it fractured and halting; Nardone’s soliloquies do sound convincingly as if the ideas are just occurring to him, but as a result there is a conspicuous lack of poetry (which is not helped by having the ‘tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow’ speech split in two).
intriguing – and baffling
Strange cuts in other places do not help the flow. Some of the casting decisions – the increased role of Deke Walmsley’s Porter, for example – are intriguing. Others – such as the combining of Young and Old Siward in one role – are just baffling.
Tom Mannion’s Siward does demonstrate, however (in being such a contrast to his earlier portrayal of Duncan) what an excellent cast is on display here – albeit one that is ill-served by a production that is not always thought through.
Characters cannot have been removed on the grounds of a lack of bodies, with a 19-strong cast; the running time is short by Shakespearean standards and there could easily have been a few more minutes squeezed in.
Cutting large chunks of the scene between Malcolm (Joseph Ross) and Macduff (Ross Watson) makes the former’s motives less believable, while the complete removal of Duncan’s other son Donalbain makes Malcolm’s desire for ‘separated fortune’ utterly inexplicable.
While many of these excisions could be justified in terms of appeal to modern audiences, losing ‘double, double, toil and trouble’ is wilfully perverse, especially considering the large numbers of school students who will make up the audience. Instead, we get witches dressed in plastic macs who shin up giant poles, apparently for no reason other than that they can.
Moments that should have gravitas are played for laughs, and it is noticeable that battle scenes seem underpopulated, even with so many people on stage – more proof of the lack of any real ensemble feel to the production.
The Scottish play is a notoriously forgiving text, that has happily survived being butchered by people with far less theatrical nous than Norris. What can be said about this production, whatever it may lack in tragic pity and grand poetics, is that it scores highly in straightforward storytelling. It bowls along at speed, with some pleasing tableaux. Rae Smith’s imposing set, all blood, rust and khaki, is crowned by a huge bridge, and good use is made of versatile furniture.
Mark Tritschker’s music may be burbly and underwhelming, but Kev McCurdy’s fight direction is pleasingly visceral – to say nothing of some enticing gore, notably a couple of nifty beheadings.
There is nothing new being said here, either about Shakespeare or the times we live in, but as a straightforward version of Macbeth it passes muster. With such a cast and these resources, however, you cannot help but feel this is a missed opportunity.
Running time 2 hours 30 minutes (including one interval)
Festival Theatre, 13/29 Nicolson Street EH8 9FT
Tuesday 23 – Saturday 27 October 2018
Daily at 7.30 pm. Matinees Thurs and Sat at 2.30 pm
Information and tickets: www.capitaltheatres.com/whats-on/ntmacbeth
Tour website: www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/shows/macbeth-on-tour
Macbeth on tour 2018/19: | |||
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23 – 27 October 2018 | Edinburgh Festival Theatre |
0131 529 6000 | Book online |
30 Oct – 3 Nov 2018 | Norwich Theatre Royal |
01603 63 00 00 | Book online |
7 – 10 November 2018 | Aberdeen His Majesty’s Theatre |
01224 641122 | Book online |
13 – 17 November 2018 | Newcastle Theatre Royal |
08448 11 21 21 | Book online |
21 – 24 November 2018 | Sheffield Lyceum Theatre |
0114 249 6000 | Book online |
27 Nov – 8 Dec 2018 | Bath Theatre Royal |
01225 448844 | Book online |
Tour continues 2019: | |||
8 – 12 January 2019 | Oxford New Theatre |
0844 871 3020 | Book online |
15 – 19 January 2019 | Dublin Bord Gais Energy Theatre |
0818 719 377 | Book online |
22 – 26 January 2019 | Nottingham Theatre Royal |
0115 989 5555 | Book online |
5 – 9 February 2019 | Hull New Theatre |
01482 300 300 | Book online |
12 – 16 February | Canterbury The Marlowe Theatre |
01227 787787 | Book online |
19 – 23 February 2019 | Glasgow Theatre Royal |
0844 871 7647 | Book online |
26 Feb – 2 March 2019 | Southampton The Mayflower Theatre |
02380 711811 | Book online |
5 – 9 March 2019 | Belfast Grand Opera House |
02890 241919 | Book online |
12 – 16 March 2019 | Wolverhampton Grand Theatre |
01902 429212 | Book online |
19 – 23 March 2019 | Cardiff Wales Millennium Centre |
029 2063 6464 | Book online |
ENDS