Macbeth review

Some episodes are eerily haunting, such as the initial meeting of the witches or the arrival of Banquo’s ghost at the feast. Simon Gleave is a vivid spectre, pouring wine for the guests and spurting blood at the terrified host. Other scenes work less well: the clowning by Dale Wylde, who among other roles plays the Porter, sometimes throws the momentum of story; it works best when he’s properly integrated into the action, slaughtering characters with a chillingly goonish smile.

There are so many techniques worked into this energetic production that the story occasionally gets lost. As Macbeth, Maynard delivers some killer monologues, but other performers falter with the text. There’s a veracity to Briony O’Callaghan’s tenacious Lady Macbeth, whose physical performance is raw and uncompromising, but often the dialogue is rushed. O’Callaghan gives us the spirit of the ambitious wife, but little of her clarity of purpose. 

Still, there are episodes where the ensemble and text come together perfectly. Macbeth’s dagger speech is heightened by a tableau of brutal repetitive stabbings behind him, and the action sequences do great credit to the movement director Matej Matejka. Flabbergast’s broad interpretation is packed with theatrical diversions. But the mix of theatrical styles does little to elucidate Shakespeare’s play.