GEMMA ROSE

THEATRE REVIEW: MACBETH 

 

 

Macbeth

The Octagon Theatre, Bolton

Friday 2nd March 2012, 19:30 

 

Macbeth is a dark story. It is a broodingly intense tale of one man’s moral descent from army hero and statesman, to eventual death at the hand of a previously loyal lieutenant.

 

The production at The Octagon Theatre in Bolton starts off well. The lighting of the opening scene is bleak and atmospheric. Macbeth is established as leader of the army battles, but there are hints of the sinister events to come.

 

The set is stripped back and intimate allowing the audience to concentrate on plot and character, and the actors are in modern day costume. Lady Macbeth’s dresses looked vaguely Elizabethan, but the men were in dinner jackets, with the army officers sporting military additions.

 

The Shakespeare classic is faithfully told. The King’s murder and the increasingly desperate and violent efforts of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth to cover up what they have done to ensure the witches’ prophesy turns out to the best of their advantage, are brought to life with precision.

 

This is nearly a very good production. What detracts from it is that Macbeth and Lady Macbeth came across as too ordinary, unprepossessing and almost ‘textbook’ with no originality. Individually and as a couple they lack the menace and charisma I would like to have seen, and the modern dress clashed with the Shakespearian language.

 

Macbeth is never an easy play to stage, and this production does not quite carry it off. Perhaps one of the stage hands uttered the title at the wrong time, and invoked the curse of ‘The Scottish Play.’