‘production comes up short on its promise of a fast, spooky, blood-spattered staging’
It is said that Macbeth is a notoriously difficult play to produce, and sadly director Ben Crystal’s production does little to dispel that myth as this production comes up short on its promise of a fast, spooky, blood-spattered staging with its ensemble cast playing a myriad of roles.
Macbeth (Crystal), a loyal general receives a prophecy from three mysterious witches that he will be crowned King of Scotland, but they also tell his aide, Banquo (Devon Anderson, that his descendants will be the future heirs to the throne.
Macbeth plots with his wife, Lady Macbeth (Megs Kumari), to take the crown from King Duncan (Cranks), but as events unfold and in spite of the loyalty from servant Lennox (Kate Benfield), the guilt begins to unravel for the Macbeths. With exiled MacDuff (Janelle Thompson) seeking revenge for the murder of his wife, Lady MacDuff (Jen Hardy), he forms an alliance with Duncan’s son, Malcolm (Callum Sim), and, with the support of Rosse (Macsen McKay), leads a force to Scotland where everything finally comes to a head.
Shakespeare North Playhouse’s ‘theatre in the round’ offers companies the perfect playground to stretch their muscles yet sadly this production was largely flat and expressionless, with much of the performance monotonous and recitative in nature, offering little energy, emotion, or depth to the bloody events taking place or being reported on. Apart from Kumari, and on occasion Benfield and Sim, the cast didn’t appear to know how to use the space, or had been directed not to, and were far too static which resulted in regular blocking issues, mumbled sound, and an all-round ennui.
With no set and little costume to talk of, designer Mark Batley’s focus was solely on the oscillating candelabras – with real candles no less – that served to provide a gloomy opening half where the cast, in dark clothing, were difficult to distinguish from each other, followed by an overly illuminated second half – I assume in response to feedback on the first – which came at the expense of much of the mystery and intrigue inherent in the play, although there was a notable improvement in the three sisters/witches scene.
Musician Semay Wu was billed as providing a live improvised underscore, primarily with cello although other instrumentation was used. As a device this was a good idea but in the opening half it felt too stylised and from contributing to blocking issues, having moved off stage she struggled to compete with the shaken ice cubes from audience members emptying their glasses or just dropping them, rolling, on to the floor. It picked up in the second half, but it needs to more orchestrated with the action on stage – or rather perhaps the action on-stage more orchestrated – to be effective and fulfil its undoubted potential.
I’ve written at length this year about the importance of healthy creative friction between writer, director, and actors that benefits the development of a production, but here Crystal has taken on too many mantles being billed as director, curator, co-facilitator, and lead actor. When you’re too invested in a production you need a creative yet critical friend, but it is evident that associate director and co-facilitator Andrew Codispoti has not challenged enough the direction this production has followed.
Equally, Shakespeare North Playhouse has been spoilt in recent weeks with some excellent visiting pop-up Shakespearean productions that have set the bar high, so it is disappointing that the production values for this in-house production have not met that mark.
Macbeth performs at Shakespeare North Playhouse through to 3rd October 2026, further details and booking at https://shakespearenorthplayhouse.co.uk/event/macbeth/
Review Date: 15th September 2026
Star Rating: TWO