Review: Theatre Group’s Macbeth

 

Macbeth is a play full of mystery, murder, love, hate and revenge and is one of Shakespeare’s most infamous works. The play sees Macbeth transform from ambitious to power-hungry and tracks his life story, ending in his abrupt death. Theatre Group’s aptly chosen Halloween production of Macbeth featured witches, people arising from the dead and some charming face mutilation. 

The play was fantastically carried throughout by the lead, Cam Bevan, (Macbeth) who yet again successfully stole the show with a truly compelling performance – his vast range on emotions captivating the audience during the shows entirety. 

His leading lady, Emma Real-Davies, played the Scottish Queen with genuine conviction, perfectly showing the emotional changes of Lady Macbeth, giving a raw performance of true devotion and love through to guilt and insanity. 

Out, damned spot! out, I say!

Comedy was brought to the production through Peter Ward, who brought both interaction and drunken spirt in theatre to a whole new level! His ability to convincing change characters throughout the play was also a delight to watch, changing his mannerisms and voice to portray his array of smaller characters.

The witches (Nina Westby, Chloe Green and Oliva Whyte ) also gave a thrilling performance, all three displaying very different characters, expressing their individuality and succeeding in creating a creepy halloween atmosphere with the classic chant:

Bubble, bubble,  toil and trouble

The brilliantly choreographed, epic sword fights gave a unique dynamic to the production, enhancing the distinctive set, make up, and costumes, all of which fitted the well directed play perfectly.

Upon approaching the Annex Theatre we were apprehensive due to our lack of Shakespearean knowledge or experience and were genuinely concerned that we would not understand a word that was uttered on stage. However, we were greatly surprised and impressed at how the actors successfully managed to illustrate the emotions riddled through the complex langage.

We definitely recommend that you take the chance to see this fantastic adaptation whilst you still can. It’s running in the Annex Theatre at 7:30pm until Saturday 3rd of November. Tickets are £6.50 for students and are available from SUSU Box Office, or on the door.