Macbeth

There are at least seven Macbeth-themed shows at this year’s fringe, so Last Notion have a challenge on their hands to make their production distinctive. They manage it, but perhaps not for the reasons they intend.The classic tragedy is endearingly rendered in a full complement of Midland accents by this Coventry-based theatre company, with surprising effectiveness. The witches’ ‘Double, double, toil and trouble’ with flattened vowels throughout is unexpectedly dark and sinister in a way that many shrill and clichéd versions do not manage. Unfortunately, the melding of Shakespearean English with strong accents and sloppy diction make large swathes of the dialogue hard to follow. Principal characters are well cast, with Marie Clark as the deliciously devious Lady Macbeth, alongside the kingly stature and inner demons of David Weeks’ Macbeth. Beyond this, the cast are an unmemorable march of black-clad goons continuously doing something very meaningful with neckties.Apart from the isolated scenes of tumbling and teddy-bear-rolls, the performance is disappointingly static. The huge space available is wasted on the large cast - notably a long scene is concentrated at the back of an unlit stage, separating the action from the audience by at least ten metres. The lighting does little to help this, being unsophisticated and unimaginative.Where it did move, however, the performance blew me away. Intricately choreographed physical scenes are played out by real-sized actors and not dainty acrobats, giving a refreshing edge to the standard physical theatre recipe. The sprung stage turns steps into loud bangs and crashes which, while perhaps not intentional, adds to the force of expression. Such brutality does make up, in part, for the lack of precision and consistently unfinished movements. Perhaps unsurprisingly for the beginning of their run, the three witches were imperfectly synchronised in routines that demanded it, and seemed easily tired and heavy on their feet. I can only hope their stamina will increase over the month.This Macbeth really is something different, and a fascinating example of how traditional Shakespeare can be mixed with contemporary physical theatre. But a lot more polish is needed yet to truly turn the foul to fair.