Friday 30 September 2011

Review: Macbeth - Barons Court Theatre, Hiraeth Artistic Productions

Upon entering the dark, low-ceilinged theatre at Barons Court, I was immeidately struck by how appropriate a venue this was for the bewitched Scottish play. The opening of the play did not disappoint; a spooky tableau was created to the sounds of the witches' chants and howling winds, in near dark, setting the tone for what was to come.

Unfortunately from there, I found the pace of the production up and down. At moments, notably those involving the witches, the mysterious nature of the play was fully realized, however at many others it felt lacking. Despite strong design and decent use of the small space, the cohesiveness of the lust within the play was missing. Rather than boiling slowly to the lust for power in the murder of Duncan, then spilling over the sides into disarray, this production seemed to have the fire too hot, then not hot enough over and over again. This was true for the whole of the production, as well as for individual performers.

Some individual choices struck me specifically; MacDuff seemed to be suspicious of Macbeth from the very first time we see them; Macbeth didn't require too much convincing, rather it felt he convinced Lady Macbeth to the deed.

Overall some good things came out of the production, but as a whole it lacked the drive and unyielding desire for power that ultimately leads to Macbeth's demise.

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