Macbeth 2005 Reviews

The Guardian ***

Elizabeth Mahoney
Monday August 1, 2005

The Oxford Shakespeare Company excel at atmosphere, relishing the chance to cook up a mood. They do this with particular zing with Shakespeare's comedies - last year's Comedy of Errors was a warm delight - so it is interesting to watch them tackle something darker, even if it is only a measured success.

Chris Pickles' production improves considerably in its later stages. It is a struggle to bring the murkiest aspects of the play to life on the sun-kissed lawn of an Oxford college (when the witches cried "and munched and munched and munched", I thought only of the well-heeled picnic-feasters all around me), but it gets easier as dusk falls.

Ross Macdonald's Macbeth didn't quite convince early on, plodding dispassionately through some of the soliloquies, but he became rather impressive as the bloody tyrant later on. The presence of an all-male cast doesn't add much to the production, and it makes Lady Macbeth's "unsex me here" speech oddly unaffecting instead of cleverly ironic.

The scene setting, however, works tremendously well. It is done through chanting and singing, and through the use of percussive instruments and deep blasts of a didgeridoo (you do eventually forget about Rolf Harris). The witches are brilliantly revolting, too, like three crusty eco-warriors after a long protest without access to showers. Their scenes are genuinely spooky without any recourse to dry ice, thanks to a chorus echoing their words off stage.

Other performances are also strong: you root for David Chittenden's Banquo, and feel for Henry Everett's Macduff as he writhes and screams into the night air on hearing that his family have been slain. This is a solid production, with some imaginative touches (watch how Lady Macbeth's make-up changes through the evening), even if it never quite taps into the play's innermost heart of darkness.

Oxford Daily Info

Oxford Shakespeare Company (and in their previous incarnation as Bold and Saucy) have been entertaining the summer audiences of Oxford for a number of years. Their decision to stage ‘the Scottish Play' this year is an interesting one. Comedies are the usual fare for garden productions and so I was interested to see how tragedy would transfer to the verdant pastures of Wadham College.

The initial impact was very strong – the re-imagining of the three witches as coming from the voodoo tradition was coherent and powerful. The use of percussion and other instruments created a vivid sound-scape – reinforced by the use of distance and ever-changing perspective.

Performing in the round is always a challenge for actors – but the all-male ensemble of nine coped admirably. The direction was intelligent in the use of space and no sector of the audience felt blocked or excluded from the action.

From a performance point of view, I have to admit that some elements were stronger than others. David Chittenden, Henry Everett and Nigel Lister excelled in their portrayals – the scene in the fourth act between Macduff and Malcolm was, for me, the highlight of the production – full of drama and passion.

Paul Dinnen as Lady Macbeth created a very tormented and haunting vision of a woman torn apart by her ambition and black heart. The three witches (who also played many other roles in the evening) were well contrasted and full of character – I especially warmed to the subtle physicality of Howard Gossington.

At the heart of the play is Macbeth himself. I confess I have always seen him as war-torn and not as a clean-cut hero. Ross Macdonald spoke the part with clarity and commitment, but I fear that he was a little unsure of the journey the character was undertaking. I got little sense of how Macbeth was transformed from loyal Thane to tyrannical king. The performance I saw was early in the run and so I am certain that he will grow into the role as the season continues.

My feelings as I left the gardens after performance were of a group of actors who were totally in tune with what their director had asked of them and that the production had many positive points. It may not be the most innovative of presentations but it does present the text well and is a worthwhile addition to the range of Shakespeare plays on offer in Oxford this summer.

Simon Tavener