Chichester Festival theatre
The murderous thane faces witches, relentless video and a musical assault in this lengthy production but emerges as a figure of rare complexity
John Simm is a fine actor and gives an intelligent, well thought out performance as the Scottish thane. Paul Miller’s production, however, does nothing to alter my conviction that this work is best played in a small space sans intermission. Macbeth should hurtle to his doom rather than, as here, being part of a three-hour spectacle.
Sight and sound tend to dominate. Simon Daw’s set comprises a circular glass floor and upstage screens on to which Tim Reid projects endless video images: scudding clouds, waving branches, eyeless spectres. Max Pappenheim’s music and sound design create a relentless aural background, featuring ominous percussion and trembling strings. One consequence is that the witches’ incantations are hard to hear and you have the sensation that the sound score is doing the work that should be left to Shakespeare’s words.
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