Macbeth Archives - North West End UK

27Jul

By Bev ClarkNo Comments

North West

Macbeth – Shakespeare North Playhouse

The Scottish play is Shakespeare’s shortest and most performed play. A GCSE text, it’s popular with schools and this one hour edited version is just right for those discovering it for the first time. It has all the ‘bloody’ plot and supernatural intrigue but of course less dialogue. Because it’s such a dramatic piece with murders, witchcraft and treachery, it works best if presented in a stylized way and certainly A Place for Us gives us plenty of style and movement. We open with a pounding dramatic soundscape which continues to enhance the production throughout. Chris Bastock's atmospheric and riveting design is perhaps the star of the show enriching the piece with intensity and power. Kate Allerston’s direction is physical, energetic and slick with a mixed company of ad...

24Jun

By Jan MellorNo Comments

North West

Macbeth – Norton Priory

Norton Priory near Runcorn is a fabulous historical place comprising the remains of an abbey complex dating from 12th to 16th centuries and an 18th-century country house all of which is now a museum, but wonderfully this is also home to some phenomenal outdoor theatrical experiences, some I have had the fortune to see. For this event – Macbeth – I was very excited to see what spin the theatre group- “Place for Us” could put on this iconic play. Firstly, the play delivered on the summer solstice, was delivered to an intimate audience of around 50 people in the woodland area of the priory and as we approached, a huge bell rang, mysterious sounds echoed through the trees and two witches met us praying on the ground, their faces full of scorn. This was a great way to enter this world of Sha...

13Mar

By Kira DanielsNo Comments

London

Macbeth (an undoing) – The Rose Theatre

She didn’t know what she was headed for, and when she found out what she was headed for, it was too late. Macbeths come undone. Playwright and director Zinnie Harris’s new and old work, Macbeth (an undoing) sets out to prove that what is done can in fact be undone rather than merely redone. Shakespeare’s Macbeth is arguably overdone, especially at the moment. From Ralph Fiennes to David Tennant, powerful male actors can’t take their grubby hands off it. Audiences too never seem to tire of it. It’s an enduring story, full of sound and fury, and rife with juicy monologues for actors to sink their fangs into. The juiciness of the plot even translates well into foreign adaptations and lubricates applications to very specific historical metaphors. However much of its adaptive appeal rests on wh...

9Mar

By Phoebe Olivia Sian HobsonNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Macbeth – Leeds Playhouse

Mesmerising! This show had my full attention from start to finish, the sinister atmosphere took full control over the full theatre and it’s fair to say the performance was a triumph to the Shakespeare play. Director Amy Leach has taken this traditional tale and put a modern twist on it, the set design was extremely fascinating and a creative tactic for refreshing a well-known story. With real mud and puddles spread across the floor of the stage, beams in positions like trees and the wooden floor that raised to create different dimensions, the audience had no choice but to be immersed within the action. For a small cast the energy was at a high, the first battle was extremely upbeat and the decision to endure the war with a modern tune in the background was really enticing and fresh. ...

Hamilton star Ash Hunter plays Macbeth at Leeds Playhouse

22Jan

By NewsdeskNo Comments

NEWS

Hamilton star Ash Hunter plays Macbeth at Leeds Playhouse

Hamilton star Ash Hunter plays Macbeth as Leeds Playhouse bring back their acclaimed take on the Bard’s portrayal of a flawed man who will do whatever it takes to gain power and ultimately the throne. Hunter played Alexander Hamilton in the hit West End musical in 2018/19 before going on to star as Heathcliff in Emma Rice’s acclaimed production of Wuthering Heights at the National Theatre. His TV credits include Netflix mega hit Bridgerton, Alma’s Not Normal, Grace, The Trial of Christine Keeler and Death in Paradise. Jessica Baglow returns as Lady Macbeth who she played when the production was first staged at the Playhouse in 2022. She has worked extensively in theatre, film and TV since childhood, appearing as a series regular in both ITV’s Where The Heart Is and the BBC’s W...

7Sep

By Jan MellorNo Comments

North West

Macbeth – Shakespeare North Playhouse

What more apt way to celebrate a theatre company’s 30th birthday, than to deliver a production of Shakespeare’s most popular plays Macbeth internationally, and to start this amazing tour at the iconic Shakespeare North Playhouse in the heart of the Northern town of Prescot. This is exactly what the ETT theatre company did. We are all familiar with the 17th century tale of deceit, corruption and guilt. How Macbeth, an ambitious yet submissive man, with his narcissistic and controlling wife, murder King Duncan, as he sleeps. Who, then adding to this horrendous crime, also murder Duncan’s friend Banquo, to further clear their way to power. We know that these crimes haunt them throughout the play, torturing their tormented minds and souls but ETT have taken this tale into a new exhil...

16Aug

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

Macbeth – Greenside @ Infirmary Street

Gosh! Where to start on this highly unpleasant Macbeth mash-up. This is my 3rd instalment of my Macbeth marathon of the Fringe and an undoubted low point. Comparison is a wonderful tool! But at least you got one star! That’s for your Macbeth, the undoubted star of this particular show, who shone with hope and ambition in a sea of troubles. Unfortunately, there is no possibility to name-check said star because you didn’t care enough to provide that information! A show which shows no hand of a director, and the barest story and which has actors crossing each other, talking in unintelligible whispers with their back to the audience, and generally running around like headless chickens. A show which shows scant respect for their paying audience or for the craft of acting. Adding to...

Macbeth: Sleep No More – The Space @ Niddrie Street

11Aug

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

Macbeth: Sleep No More – The Space @ Niddrie Street

A cleverly shortened and in places rewritten version of the Scottish Play which takes nothing away from its power and fascination, performed very nicely by a four female cast, in what is normally a male heavy production. All four actresses do very well to play a screed of different characters, but none shines brighter than Victoria Adler, who is scintillating in whichever body she is inhabiting. Alder’s sword fighting scene with Amy Floyd’s slightly pedestrian Macbeth is one of the highlights of the whole show, with audience members visibly shrinking back and pulling up legs from the thrusting and whirling bodies as the contest progresses to its inevitable bloody climax. Absolutely riveting stuff! Perhaps a bit more cut and thrust in the lines department would not have gone amiss...

3Aug

By Stewart Who?No Comments

London

Macbeth – Shakespeare’s Globe

The Shakespeare’s Globe hit the headlines recently, when a man in a full latex gimp suit and face mask rocked up to a performance of The Comedy of Errors. It prompted a few complaints, but Globe staff shrugged off the furore and were largely worried that the rubbery punter might overheat. He was stood in front of the stage at a matinee on a warm day. Fetish enthusiasts were less visible on the night we attended Macbeth at the Globe, but one of the venue’s strengths is to render the audience as almost another actor in the proceedings. The shape and design of the Globe means that in the summer months when it is light, the full range of humanity is on show, whether that’s in the cheap ticket pit or one of the galleries. At one point, Macbeth (Max Bennet) exited the stage through the aud...

26Apr

By Gill LewisNo Comments

North West

Macbeth – Liverpool Playhouse

An explosive fusion of live action and multimedia technology pops off the stage and saturates the senses, with this self-described ‘neon noir thriller’ styled interpretation of the Bard’s ‘Scottish Play’. Technical theatrical ground breakers, Andrew Quick, Pete Brooks and Simon Wainwright, otherwise known as Imitating the Dog, produce and direct this postmodernist retelling of Shakespeare’s “Wonder Boy”, Macbeth, brilliantly portrayed by Benjamin Westerby. The multiple layers of this clever production really do test the senses with various points of action taking place simultaneously, taking us on a rapid adventure through this tragic tale of the psychological and physical effects that come with the pursuit of power. If you’re familiar with the aesthetic of DC’s Got...