|
Nov 18
|
Last night I went to the theatre in London to see Macbeth, I’ll admit that the whole idea of going to see a Shakespeare play was based primarily on the fact that the title role was being played by Patrick Stewart of Star Trek fame. Now, I’m not the world’s biggest Star Trek geek and although I have seen about 99% of the Next Generation series, I did also read Macbeth at school and I’ve always thought that Patrick Stewart was a great actor anyway.
The seats I had were about as far back as you could get (Row J, Grand Circle) but the view was unobstructed even though I had a rather tall gentleman sat in front of me. The acoustics were ok, but some of the more softly spoken lines didn’t make it into my ears intact (note that I am a bit deaf anyway), the majority of the dialog was clearly audible though.
The play itself keeps true to the original dialog but the production is set in a pseudo-Stalinist Russia with images of goose-stepping soldiers and tanks being projected onto the backdrop of the stage, along with the projection some great lighting and additional sound effects (gunfire, screams) create a magnificent atmosphere of fear and madness. The set is effectively a bleak and dull kitchen but various props (tables, gurneys, fridge, television) are whisked on and off the stage and lighting is used to delimit areas of the stage so that you very quickly forget about the kitchen aspect and just enjoy the play.
The performances of both Stewart and the leading lady Kate Fleetwood were brilliant and I really felt the emotion they were trying to convey, something I think is difficult to do with Shakespearean English amongst the modern slang-fueled dialect. Whether through mild hearing difficulties or poor understanding of the old-English I did fail to follow-along in some areas but in all I think this should be an accesible experience for the majority – it might help to re-read the book (or a plot synopsis) before going to see the play as a quick refresher should you become lost.