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Theatre review: Macbeth, Royal Shakespeare Company

I attended the press night of the RSC’s 2018 production of Macbeth but paid for my own ticket and lodgings.

Continuing my long-term project to see all of Shakespeare’s canon on stage, and a 2018 ambition to see more regional theatre, I left London for Stratford-upon-Avon. The last time I was here, making my radio documentary, the Royal Shakespeare Theatre was still undergoing reconstruction. So this was my first visit inside. The floorboards of the stage from the 1932 theatre have been salvaged and used around the outside of the auditorium in the rebuilt structure, a lovely touch. However, as Shakespeare wrote, the play’s the thing – and thats why I was here.

The cons – I was in an aisle seat to the extreme right of the thrust stage, which was mostly fine, except there were text projections above the stage which I couldn’t see. There was also a kind of mezzanine second stage á la the Globe Theatre I couldn’t see almost any of, but performers appeared there sometimes.

A digital clock at the mezzanine level began counting down after Macbeth kills Duncan, giving a helpful indicator of how long is left until the end of the play. However, in this action-light production, it felt a little like an (albeit fairly lenient) prison sentence marking the minutes until we were to be granted freedom. Get rid of it.

The three witches are played by three small girls clutching stuffed bears. Their key “boil boil” scene is moved to much later in the play than usual. I am not a Shakespeare scholar; I cannot wail feverishly about “the text” being butchered. But I noticed this change, and also that all the witch scenes were much shorter than those I have read in the First Folio, presumably to ease the load on the child actors. This does them a disservice, as the RSC should know from its productions of Les Misérables and Matilda the Musical that children acting can easily match adults in talent and stamina.

So to the adults. The famous Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. Co-opted to describe the couple who cheated to game Who Wants to be a Millionaire? into giving them ill-gotten gains back in 2001 (a genius connection perhaps, but I’m seeing Quiz, James Graham’s exploration of the saga, next month). They were hardly on stage together and lacked chemistry when they were. It’s early in the run, perhaps, but I was disappointed. Christopher Eccleston is an emotion-driven, passionate actor – what made him such a good Doctor, and this is his Royal Shakespeare Company debut. Niamh Cusack I cannot particularly recall seeing in anything before, although I know the name. I didn’t feel that she was tormented much. Again, chemistry.

I must give a special mention to Ed Bennett as Macduff. Besuited, he was the spit of John Krasinski’s Jim from the U.S. version of The Office. He is a very low-key performer, his grief at the murder of his family palpable but still movingly understated, until the bubble bursts in the final scene, and he does for Macbeth. I saw him stand in for David Tennant in the title role of the RSC’s London run of Hamlet in 2008, and loved him. The last decade, in which he has worked consistently for the Company, have only improved his mastery of the craft. It was thoroughly enjoyable to see him again.

Look, overall, I wouldn’t rush to see this production. It’s coming to the Barbican in October and it will be likely fairly well received. It seems it is better than the National’s current production lead by Rory Kinnear and Ann-Marie Duff, which apparently relies on gore and an odd staging to draw the audience. So it’s up to you.

Macbeth by William Shakespeare, director Polly Findlay, is at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, until September, and then at the Barbican Theatre, London, from October until January 2019. *** / *****

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Social Media call for Much Ado About Nothing

Update, October 2017: due to a five year agreement between the RSC and Equity expiring, I have had to remove the video of the Q&A session.

For a while now, I have had a half-baked ambition to see all of Shakespeare’s plays performed live on stage; the medium they were created for. This is not some kind of challenge to be rushed through, but something to be enjoyed and appreciated at my leisure. I saw the Royal Shakespeare Company’s production of Julius Caesar in August 2012 and documented that here on my website. The RSC’s London season continued at the Nöel Coward Theatre with Much Ado About Nothing, again transferring from Stratford. I was reading about the play and discovered a page on the website advertising what the RSC described as a “social media call”. It’s been two years since I graduated with a degree in Broadcast Journalism, and I haven’t worked in the industry since. I thought attending might be a good way to combine these two ideas, as friends and colleagues often ask why they haven’t yet heard or seen me on BBC News, or doing anything related to my degree. Well one – it’s tough and competitive out there, as is the jobs market. Two, that’s not something I’m entirely certain I’d enjoy. I thought I would try this though, as I’ve said. I let the RSC know I was interested in attending, and they confirmed my place.

At the theatre, we were given the opportunity to watch the actors and crew rehearsing before they were ready for us. We then watched a full dress run of act two, scene three, which includes Balthasar’s song “Sigh No More”, and Benedick’s soliliquoy. We were encouraged to take photos and video during this time, which I did, although I didn’t have a camera so had to use my iPhone. Most of the photos and videos are disappointing and can’t properly capture the vibrancy of the lighting design, nor the impressive set, complete with full-size tree, but I shall include some anyway.

Much Ado About Nothing, Act 2, Scene 3
Madhav Sharma (Leonato), Paul Bhattacharjee (Benedick) and Shiv Grewal (Don Pedro)

What I did see of the show – I was unable to attend the evening performance I was invited to – was stunning. It is so easy for Shakespeare to be used as the height of drama, with wannabe Oliviers or Kenneth Branaghs giving their best RADA-taught performances. The RSC isn’t like that, and I liked the subtlety of what I saw, despite the scene being high-energy in parts, and even including singing and dancing. It was naturalistic Shakespeare and characters not only acted but re-acted to what was happening in the scene. Every performance the audience should feel as if the lines are being spoken for the first time, thought up in the brains of those on stage, not 500-year-old sentences. This production achieved that effortlessly.

Much Ado About Nothing, Act 2, Scene 3 - Anjana Vasan and newcomer Raj Bajaj
Anjana Vasan (Maid) and newcomer Raj Bajaj (Balthasar)


Once the scene had been performed, there was a question and answer session. The scene had taken longer than anticipated, meaning there was less time for the Q&A, and I didn’t get to ask any of my questions. Some similar ones were asked by others, however.

The actors and director Iqbal Khan were knowledgeable about what they were doing, and insightful in to the relevance of Shakespeare in 2012, following on from this year’s World Shakespeare Festival. One person attending the social media call asked the group about their experiences with “traditional Shakespeare” – making the unfortunate supposition that Shakespeare should be performed by white English actors. The late Paul Bhattacharjee, playing Benedick, was the first to respond in a video I’m no longer able to show here, but here’s a quote:

“You used the word tradition – you should be really aware of what you’re talking about, because there is a level of education in India that far exceeds our expectations… Why it’s such an easy fit is because [for example] Much Ado is a family tale. Now if there’s anything that we grow up with in India it’s great big epic family stories… I would say this is tradition”

Overall, I was very glad I had the opportunity to attend the social media call. It was only the second occasion I had been able to work with the Royal Shakespeare Company, and I am grateful for both of those times.

Much Ado About Nothing, Act 2, Scene 3
Much Ado About Nothing, Act 2, Scene 3
Much Ado About Nothing, Act 2, Scene 3 - Newcomer Raj Bajaj sings Balthasar's song Sigh No More
Newcomer Raj Bajaj (Balthasar) performs Sigh No More
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Theatre review: Julius Caesar

“Julius Caesar” by William Shakespeare

  • Producer: Royal Shakespeare Company for its London season
  • Director: Gregory Doran
  • Theatre: Nöel Coward Theatre

This modern-day production of Shakespeare’s play takes place in Africa and features an all-black cast. Many familiar faces from TV and stage feature here, most notably Paterson Joseph as Brutus. It’s not specified where in Africa we are supposed to be, but the actors, some of whom were born and grew up in the UK, affect an east African accent according to director Gregory Doran. It’s the sort of accent you might hear in programmes that stereotype the continent. This in itself is not a problem, but combined with the acoustics in live theatre and the highly-charged emotion of several scenes, it sometimes made it difficult to make out words and even whole sentences.

I wasn’t familiar with the plot of Julius Caesar before the performance, but found myself picking up the odd phrase here and there that has entered popular culture over the years, the most famous of which is Shakespeare’s interpretation of the historic Caesar’s reaction to his friend’s betrayal: “Et tu, Brute?”. Each one of these was like a little tap on the shoulder taking me out of the play, but this is hardly this production’s fault; merely an observation on my journey to seeing all I can of the Bard performed live.

I left the theatre pleased that I was now closer to that goal. I had lots of questions about how the story documented by the play compared to what historians know about the real Caesar, so I did some research over the next few days. I discovered that Caesar was assassinated on the steps of a theatre, the ruins of which I soon realised I had visited, lying innocuously in one of Rome’s many cat-filled squares. This one features a sanctuary whose aim is to help the city’s strays. I sat on a wall surrounding the ruins – not open to the public, and a haven for the cats – for about fifteen minutes, trying to attract some of them to play, not realising the significance of what I had barely noticed behind me.

The last Shakespeare I’d seen was Richard III (Old Vic, directed by Sam Mendes, 2011) and the previous RSC production I’d seen was Hamlet (Novello, directed by Gregory Doran, 2008). I was excited to see the two brought together again.

Together with BBC Two, the RSC produced a film version, shot on location, of Doran’s Hamlet which was broadcast on Boxing Day 2009. Partnering with the BBC again in 2012, a TV version of Julius Caesar was broadcast on BBC Four, again with the same cast as the stage production but shot on location.; the joint trailer for both this and the stage production is below. This idea of creating a show for two different mediums is something I know the RSC wants to do more of, and Doran particularly seems adept at. Allowing the widest possible audience access to the work is very important, and these efforts, this time as part of the World Shakespeare Festival, are to be applauded.

Trailer for the production

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Documentary update

I’ve decided to make my documentary available publicly on this website. What I have done so far – I have lots more material from both Peter Davison and Liz Thompson – is part one. The second part I haven’t created yet, but it will be more raw than the first part. Look forward to it in the coming weeks!