Macbeth Archives - Page 2 of 2

10Mar

By Adam WilliamsNo Comments

North West

Macbeth – The Lowry

Tonight Shakespeare met Tarantino, this was the bard seen through the lens of some kind of super-visual filmmaker complete with swear words and a dark, brooding attitude. What we have with this production is theatre as film, it could be said to have more style than substance. As a backdrop to the action there were projected flashy, incandescent and strangely beautiful images and video. They were bright, scintillating and imaginatively put together with great skill and creativity. The problem was that they were, at times, somewhat distracting. Above the stage top left and right were two screens showing feeds from two mobile cameras which were on stage. Given the conceit of Macbeth reimagined as a Tarantino film, set in an underground world of drugs and prostitution, Macbeth and his wi...

6Oct

By Luke StephensonNo Comments

North West

Macbeth – Epstein Theatre

Now I’ve never been a person to like Shakespeare or even understand it but the beauty about this job is my mind is open to all theatre. So, I went to watch Macbeth (otherwise known as the Scottish play) at Liverpool’s Epstein theatre. It was a Daniel Taylor productions piece directed by Daniel Taylor himself. With local Liverpool actors and actress’s making up the cast. In case you are not familiar with the story. Macbeth (Tomas Loftus) comes in to contact with 3 witches/weird sisters (Gillian Hardie, Kaitlin Howard and Helen Jeffery) who tells Macbeth that he is to be King. When his wife Lady Macbeth (Tracy Spencer) hears of this tale she encourages Macbeth to kill the current King Duncan so that the tale becomes a reality. Which almost gave the impression that lady Macbeth is the v...

9Mar

By Paul ClarkeNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Macbeth – Leeds Playhouse

As the three witches circulate around the massive drawbridge that dominates the stark stage it's clear that Amy Leach’s latest attempt to make Shakespeare accessible will focus on the intrigue, blood and ultimately madness in arguably his most dynamic drama. Power couple the Macbeths are introduced as they mourn their dead child before the ambitious warrior muscularly played by Tachia Newall meets the witches who inform him he’s to be the King of Scotland despite the weak Duncan still being on the throne. Egged on by his wife, the brave general becomes the cowardly assassin as he takes the throne before turning on everyone around him as his hubris brings about his downfall. There is a subtle subtext of dynasty and lineage as Lady Macbeth loses another child, which helps explain he...

17Jan

By Paul ClarkeNo Comments

NEWS

Cast announced for Macbeth at Leeds Playhouse

Something wickedly good is coming to Leeds Playhouse as Macbeth makes its way to the Quarry stage with a diverse cast. Director Amy Leach’s teams up once again with Designer Hayley Grindle’s to offer a raw and visceral vision of Shakespeare’s thrilling tragedy as ambitious northern warrior Macbeth does whatever it takes to gain the throne. Tachia Newall, already well-known to Playhouse audiences from his standout role as Tybalt in Romeo & Juliet in 2017 and from appearances in Waterloo Road, Coronation Street and the recent hit movie Dune, is Macbeth. Lady Macbeth is played by Doncaster actor Jessica Baglow, who fans of the TV hit Gentleman Jack will recognise as lady’s maid Rachel Hemingway. The rest of the 11-strong cast include Adam Bassett, who was Asso...

Young Everyman Playhouse bring toil and trouble of a different kind to the Bombed Out Church this summer

29Jun

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

NEWS

Young Everyman Playhouse bring toil and trouble of a different kind to the Bombed Out Church this summer

This summer, Liverpool Everyman & Playhouse theatres’ Young Everyman Playhouse programme will perform a modern version of Shakespeare’s Macbeth, in the outdoor setting of St Luke’s Bombed Out Church. The young actors will take over the iconic Liverpool church at the top of Bold Street, tackling one of Shakespeare’s most famous plays, for five performances from 21st – 25th July. In this bold and inventive YEP production, a female Macbeth takes centre stage. Kingdoms are replaced for street corners, broadswords for pocket knives and armies for gangs as one of Shakespeare’s greatest tragedies is re-imagined by and for young theatregoers. Initially planned the for summer 2020, the production was rescheduled to 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic, after preparations for ...

The Lord Chamberlain’s Men announce Macbeth summer 2021 tour dates

24May

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

NEWS

The Lord Chamberlain’s Men announce Macbeth summer 2021 tour dates

As previously confirmed, The Lord Chamberlain’s Men, leading proponents of open air theatre return this summer with a thrilling and powerful production of Shakespeare’s Macbeth. It can now be confirmed that the production will open in Salisbury on 3rd June before embarking on a 14-week summer tour. The tour will call at more than 55 venues giving more than 60 performances with yet more venues and dates in the UK and mainland Europe still to be announced. The extensive summer tour will see the company perform in the gardens and grounds of some of the UK’s most significant, historically important and visually stunning castles, cathedrals and stately homes including; Chichester Cathedral (11th June), Hever Castle (13th June), Harewood House (17th June), Waddesdon Manor (24th June), Ham ...

19Nov

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

REVIEWS

Macbeth – The Shows Must Go On

Macbeth is a TV film version of the 2007 Chichester Festival Theatre production of William Shakespeare's tragedy directed by Rupert Goold and starring Sir Patrick Stewart and Kate Fleetwood as Lord and Lady Macbeth. The film was shot entirely at Welbeck Abbey and makes full use of its larger halls and dingier corridors, and a much more limited use of its exteriors. These often almost empty but gigantic rooms (and peeling paint in the war scenes) and the almost total lack of exterior scenes in the first half evoke an almost apocalyptic underground world in which sunshine and fresh air may be (but seldom is) reached via the lift some characters disappear into. The costumes, props and stock footage evoke the Soviet Block in the Cold War, specifically Romania in the 1960s, thus establishing...

9Sep

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

NEWS

Macbeth reboot set for this October

Tradition requires that a ‘ghost-light’ be left on while the theatre is dark, to ward off restless ghosts and protect its magic from harm. The lights are off, but the magic is not gone. A closed theatre is a perfect playground for mischievous spirits intent on wreaking havoc. Three witches usher, stage manage and execute the tragedy of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, two innocents trapped in a Truman-esque reality which is both virtual and brutal. This October, Big Telly Theatre Company invites audiences to draw their curtains tight, turn off the lights and enter the realm of the witching hour for an up close and personal theatrical reboot of one of Shakespeare’s most well-known plays. Directed by the theatre company’s founder Zoe Seaton, this atmospheric Macbeth is a timeless...