Jeri Jacquin
Coming to theatres from director Simon Godwin and Trafalgar Releasing in the U.S. and globally is the wonderful production of William Shakespeare’s MACBETH.
Macbeth (Ralph Fiennes) is a Thane who believes he doesn’t deserve the combat accolades and upon his return home is finding it difficult to sleep. Wife Lady Macbeth (Indira Varma) is happy to have her husband home but has goals for them both. It is time for King Duncan to go away and a new king be crowned.
Murder seems to run rampant in the Scottish Thane household with a set that contains a set of stairs, a few doors and a grey-ish black interior, much like, I suspect, the hearts of a few of its residents. The witches (or weird sisters) chanting “double double toil and trouble” don’t seem to choose sides but clearly know more than anyone else.
After a brief intermission, we find Macbeth and Lady Macbeth having dinner not thinking of what has brought him to a royal status. At the table, Macbeth is seeing something that no one else does. Lady Macbeth is trying to keep him under control but she isn’t happy by his guilty behavior which continually goes from happy to fear ridden.
Knowing that his lack of sleep is causing his vexing, Fiennes gives the performance depth and the frailties of a man whose mental health is truly being challenged by unseen forced. The witches proclaim that “something wicked this way comes” as Macbeth has something to say about their presence once again. Getting the living to say exactly what they wish; the witches are having their way.
Macduff (Ben Turner) has made his way out of Macbeth’s reach to England and now the anger will fall upon his wife and children. It is Ross (Ben Allen) who must break the news and, in that moment, Turner’s Macduff must come to terms with what has happened and, in Ross’ words, “take it like a man”. Macduff replies, “and I shall feel it like a man”. That is such a powerful phrase as we are drawn into his pain.
Lady Macbeth is now becoming as her husband has been. In the midst of it, a battle is coming as Macbeth prepares. Scotland will have its justice!
Ralph Fiennes is a Tony and BAFTA Award winner who portrays Macbeth on a roller coaster of every human emotion with a thin wrap of madness for good measure. There is something so mystical about Fiennes’ interpretation of a man who clearly has lost his grasp on the realities around him.
Indira Varma is an Olivier Award winner is a wife who has plans of her owns when her husband returns. Trying to keep it together when husband Macbeth has mad moments, Varma is strong and powerful in the role of Lady Macbeth.
Ben Turner as Macduff is a man who knows he must get away from Macbeth’s grasp but what he doesn’t realize is that it will cost him more than he could ever have imagined. His scene of grief is one of the most powerful on the stage.
Other cast include Ewan Black as Malcolm, Levi Brown as Angus, Jonathan Case as Seyton, Danielle Fiamanya as the Second Witch, Keith Fleming as King Duncan/Siward, Michael Hodgson as the second murderer, Lucy Mangan as the First Witch, Jake Neads as the first murderer/Donalbain, Richard Pepper as Lennox, Steffan Rhodri as Banquo, Rose Riley as Menteith, Lola Shalan as the Third Witch, Rebecca Scroggs as Lady Macduff/Doctor, and Ethan Thomas as Fleance.
Trafalgar Releasing harnesses the power of cinema to bring fans together in more than 15,000 cinemas across 132 countries. Featuring live concerts, music documentaries, award-winning theatre, world-class opera and ballet, and more from leading names in entertainment such as Taylor Swift, Coldplay, The Royal Opera House, Concord Originals, Hasbro and others. Trafalgar Releasing has repeatedly shattered event cinema box office records, and most recently for TAYLOR SWIFT – THE ERAS TOUR, the highest-grossing concert film of all time. For more information, please visit www.trafalgar-releasing.com.
The Wessex Grove is a theatrical production company set up by Benjamin Lowy and Emily Vaughan-Barratt in 2020. Current and upcoming productions include Thomas Ostermeier’s An Enemy of the People with Matt Smith at The Duke of Yorks Theatre and many more.
Underbelly is a UK-based live entertainment company founded in 2000 by Ed Bartlam and Charlie Wood that specializes in producing and programming ground-breaking theatrical productions and cultural events and festival from theatres to roundabouts from London to Asia.
Director Godwin who has also produced Antony & Cleopatra, Romeo & Juliet and Hansard brings Shakespeare in a way that, for me, it mesmerizing. Take away the outside noise of whittle it down to just the cast, there is nothing to distract from become totally engrossed in the story.
Spending time in Shakespeare’s world is always an amazing experience. You can see it done so many ways and on so many levels but the work of Macbeth is still strong, can be moving, cite to anger and even, if we dare, bring about a chuckle or two. I am one who enjoys Shakespearean performances in all the stories so to see Fiennes and Varma give their take with director Godwin, “performed in measure, time and place”.
To discover where MACBETH is playing in your local theatre on May 2nd and May 5th only, and obtain tickets, please visit www.macbethincinemas.com.
Comments
About the Author
