Review: Macbeth -The Royal Exchange

Review

Target audience: The Guardian

Title of show: Macbeth

Theatre name: The Royal Exchange

Location: Manchester

Writer: William Shakespeare

Director: Christopher Haydon

Reviewer: Lauren Temple

Rating: * * *

The Royal Exchange’s Macbeth is madness encapsulated. Its fantastically abstract choreography and beautifully wacky sets are let down by its messy structure and unwise directorial decisions about gender casting. Christopher Haydon stages an interesting but confused modern twist on the popular Shakespearian tale of one man’s rise to power via treachery and murder. Newly imaged with a gender-flipped Macbeth, the Royal Exchange took a risk that didn’t pay off.

Lucy Ellison plays a female Macbeth, but this decision seems to do little for the play. Bar pronoun and costume changes, there is a lack of acknowledgement of the gender swap, thus Haydon is missing out on the opportunity to explore the interesting implications of representing a woman’s struggle for power. This choice also effects how we see Lady Macbeth’s character because, despite Ony Uhiara’s solid performance, her position as a strong ruthless woman in a man’s world is undermined where in this adaptation the strength of a women is a given rather than an exception. Therefore, the selling-point of this adaptation feels half-hearted.

In terms of performance, Ellison’s interpretation of Macbeth doesn’t quite meet the stage-presence necessary for such a powerful character. Instead, the greatest strength of the play lies in the side characters performances. The witches’ are disturbing, playful, and haunting. Macduff’s performance is arguably the most powerful as Paul Hickey portrays grief with the highest level of potency. But in this strength also lies the plays greatest weakness: the fact that the side characters steal the show furtherly highlights the lack of strength in Macbeth’s character, both in Ellison’s portrayal and Haydon’s misplaced choices as a director.

However, the plays strength lies in its moments of co-ordinated chaos. The set is wonderful and is complimented by scenes of abstractly choregraphed movement which come together to perfectly reflect Macbeth’s inner turmoil. But there is a jarring contrast between these exciting moments of abstract madness and the duller naturalistic scenes. Therefore, the play feels oddly put together.

Moreover, although beautiful, the visual elements of the play are often confusing because it is unclear when the play is actually set. With a mixture of modern-day military uniform, World War One looking gasmasks, and the use of swords and daggers… the imagery is too confusing for the audience to place a time period on the piece. Also, the language is kept to the Shakespearian original but with several modern-day references (including a cringeworthy nod to the Manchester band The Smiths) that feel jarring and out of place. Again, Haydon’s unwise decisions lead to confusion.

Macbeth has been brought into the 21^st century but without the powerful impact you would expect from a gender-flipped version of Shakespeare’s classic. Therefore, despite some exciting moments with staging and choreography, Haydon’s interpretations is ambitious but confused and lacking in depth.