15 – 24 February 2024
By William Shakespeare
Witches, prophecies, ghosts, the ruthless pursuit of power and a bloody trail of murders to achieve it – the “Scottish play” has it in bucket loads.
Are people as trustworthy and honest as they seem or are they really cowardly and evil? Macbeth starts the play as a hero, having just won a major battle for King Duncan. But when Macbeth is told he will become King of Scotland himself, it sparks his ruthless ambition. Egged on by his wife, Macbeth pursues a bloody path leading to murder and the threat of civil war.
Shakespeare’s classic story of betrayal, ambition and the drift towards tyranny is still compellingly relevant and will be brought thrillingly to life in this contemporary production.
Cast
Duncan | Suzi Whittle
Malcolm / Second Murderer | Sophie Moss
Donalbain / Menteith / First Murderer | Anthony Portsmouth
Macbeth | Damien de Roche
Banquo / Caithness / Seyton | Elke Desanghere
Macduff / Captain | Peter Brown
Lennox | Jay Rolfe
Ross | Gail Bishop
Angus / Porter | Penny Parker
Lady Macbeth | Abigail Waterfield
Lady Macduff / Gentlewoman | Lucinda Banton
Doctor | Helen Dunford
Fleance / Young Siward | Ollie Nebel & Josh Lewis
Weyard Sister One | Angelique Patnett
Weyard Sister Two | Lucy Auva
Weyard Sister Three | Millie Coelho & Maria Krzemienska
Macduff’s Child | Annabel Houghton & Libby Lawther
Directed by Mike Millsted
Photography by Chris Fenton
Review | February 2024 | Theo Spring
The combination of the vision which Director Mike Milsted had to bring this amazing production to fruition, combined with the idea from Keith Orton and Gail Bishop to set it on a Transverse stage created a most memorable production.
Macbeth is not one of Shakespeare’s easiest plays for a modern amateur group to achieve, reliant as it is on the many men in the cast and the certain requirement of acting of the highest standards. Although this may have been a Directorial decision to follow modern gender reversals here, the ladies stepping into the male roles melted seamlessly into their various characters and Damien De Roche and Abigail Waterfield delivered Macbeth and Lady Macbeth superbly.
The Transvers or catwalk, stage designed by Mike Bell and running stage left to stage right, across the auditorium, had specially constructed entrances at either end and was highly effective, so huge praise here for the set construction team.
The decision to use modern dress worked extremely well, with army fatigues prevalent for almost everyone. A job lot of green tee shirts and army boots created a cohesive look with few changes of costume needed. Wardrobe by Mike Bell and Lauren Cudjoe dressed Lady Macbeth in an appropriately blood red dress for her Banquet and in white for her ‘hand wringing’ scene – a clever touch.
The music by Peter Beckwith played throughout the performance added much to the whole atmosphere, whether quietly underscoring the action or upping in volume when required. Special effects were impressive – the best being the rising of vapour from the ‘floor’ for the Weyward Sister’s cauldron which ‘burned’ bright then disappeared. With all this expertise behind them, the cast completed this achievement with apt characterisations which they skillfully changed when stepping into another role.
Abigail Pedrick gave, in my opinion, a faultless interpretation of Lady Macbeth, giving her the seductive wiles to convince her husband to murder King Duncan and later interpreting the oh so well-known madness scene as if we didn’t know it and its famous wording. As Macbeth, Damien De Roche brought all the desire for the power that kingship would bring him, to the fore, whilst hesitating strongly on the way to bring that about. His reliance on the Weyward Sister’s (the witches) predictions being infallible and his growing unease when seeing Banquo’s ghost at the Banquet were all played out with a deep understanding of the role.
There was kingly authority from Suzi Whittle as Duncan – appointing Macbeth as Thane of Cawdor and thus fulfilling the first of the Sister’s predictions, and an initial affection for Macbeth by Elke Desanghere as the ill-fated Banquo – a large role very well delivered. Sophie Moss and Anthony Portsmouth paid homage to their father Duncan as his sons and later transformed into wily assassins. Appearing frequently throughout the play are noblemen Lennox and Ross with Jay Rolfe as the advisory Lennox and Gail Bishop as the supportive and every-present on stage Ross. Penny Parker took the dual roles of Angus, another nobleman and later, delightfully, as the only piece of real comedy which Shakespeare included in this sombre play as the Porter at the lodge gate – drunk on duty. To Lucinda Banton as Lady Macduff fell the emotional role of death for both her and her children with Libby Lawther from Team Cawdor as her child. Peter Brown, first as the Captain and later as the distraught Macduff brought much emotion to the news of the slaughter of his family. €œWhat, all my pretty chickens and their dam at one fell swoop€.
The Weyward Sisters with their famous and infamous chanting to deliver, were Angelique Patnett, Lucy Auva and the young Maria Krzemienska who will, no doubt remember this role with pride into her future. Helen Dunford-Hearn offered advice as the old woman and later as the Doctor, concerned about the health of Lady Macbeth. Josh Lewis from Team Cawdor took on the dual roles of Banquo’s son Fleance and also Young Siward who is killed in the final throes of the play.
As is always the case when there are two teams (in this case Team Glamis and Team Cawdor) the ‘other’ team are sadly not included in the review – I often wish I could see both teams on separate nights!
So many famous quotes. With its fine calibre of acting, sound by Mike Millsted and Harrison Swartz-Boyd providing music both ethereal and strident, a set which allowed the action to flow without the hinderance of furniture or scene setting and excellent costumes, all that is left to add is the outstanding ability of the Director, Mike Millsted, who must have lived and breathed the show for many months, who brought to the Miller Centre stage a fabulous Macbeth.