‘fast, frantic, and funny staging delightfully turns Shakespeare’s classic tragedy completely on its head’
Macbeth is a notoriously difficult play to produce, yet Tom Dixon, Paul Moss, and Will Orton’s production completely knocks it out of the (Calderstones) park with its madcap madness and mayhem far closer to the original plot than perhaps anyone might care to imagine, as director Ellice Stevens’ fast, frantic, and funny staging delightfully turns Shakespeare’s classic tragedy completely on its head with its hilarious and refreshing take on the themes of cold ambition and murder, guilt and revenge, enacted by a cast of three.
Macbeth (Meredith Lewis), a loyal general receives a prophecy from three mysterious witches (Jazz Harbour; Marianne Kelly; Lewis) that he will be crowned King of Scotland, but they also tell his aide, Banquo (Harbour), that his descendants will be the future heirs to the throne.
Macbeth plots with his wife, Lady Macbeth (Kelly), to take the crown and murder follows murder, as night follows day. But as the guilt begins to unravel for the Macbeths, exiled MacDuff (Kelly) and Malcolm (Harbour) lead a force to Scotland to seek their revenge and everything finally comes to a head.
Lewis’ emotional and earnest Macbeth is a joy to watch, hilariously out of his depth as he is plagued by bad luck, whilst Harbour’s superb Banquo is a faithful friend and playfully loyal to the end (and beyond). Kelly’s Lady Macbeth is mad, bad, and dangerous, but not necessarily in that order, in a riveting performance.
Yet these are just three specific roles, as the trio are also terrific as a multi-rolling ensemble playing all the other characters – with a little help from a couple of audience members – that keeps the action and the laughs unfolding, with Lucy Green’s design kept deliberately simple to allow for the necessary quick-fire costume changes and easily deployable props.
And it’s in combination as the three witches, set into Green’s inspired backdrop, that they excel even further, playing the instruments to accompany their live musical numbers, brilliantly composed by musical director Andrew Armfield, and injecting a riotous anarchy into the production which strangely makes a lot of sense in the context of the original.
The most fitting of finale’s sees a sword fight, choreographed by Tom Knight, between Lewis’ Macbeth and Kelly’s MacDuff with Harbour providing the sound effects that completely transfixed the audience and would put any spaghetti Western to shame: spaghetti Shakespeare perhaps?
The icing on the cake though is the performers as themselves, mixing and mingling with the audience beforehand as well as nabbing an olive or few during the play. They are so personable that you are just willing them to succeed before it starts: that they do so resoundingly is not only a testament to that, but also their wonderful chemistry, fantastic comic timing, and bucket loads of talent: there’s a real skill to successfully playing a straight drama comically and these three have it in droves. Bravo!
The Reader is a national charity which brings people together and books to life, with its home in Liverpool’s beautiful Calderstones Park open to everyone, all year round. Further information https://www.thereader.org.uk/
From pedalling Twelfth Night to twenty UK venues in 2013, The HandleBards has grown to become an internationally renowned theatre company taking their unique brand of Shakespeare to audiences all over the world.
Further details and booking information for Macbeth and their other current touring production of As You Like It can be found at https://www.handlebards.com/
Review Date: 23rd August 2026
Star Rating: FIVE