Shakespeare's Globe: Macbeth

'Macbeth', known too as the Scottish play (have also heard Verdi's opera coined the Scottish opera), is one of my favourite Shakespeare plays, with some of Shakespeare's most deservedly famous characters and lines/solliloquies. It is one of his most quotable/oft-quoted plays and one of his most accessible to study in schools, from personal experience and studying it twice (no other Shakespeare play had me studying it more than once at school, though 'Twelfth Night' was close).

Was not sure at first whether this 2020 Shakespeare Globe production would work. Despite it being performed at the Globe, it was an abridged production (which is not always a good sign when performing Shakespeare, especially if the play has complicated prose and/or storytelling that would lose coherence if cut too much). And also worried that with it being a student production that the play would be too toned down in atmosphere. While the production isn't successful in everything, with not everything in the staging primarily working, it was a very interesting performance, performed strongly, quite bold and the drama isn't toned or dumbed down (the opposite in fact).

As said, not everything worked. Not all the staging touches seemed necessary, especially the truly clumsy fourth wall breaking in the banquet scene that took me right out of the drama and setting. That is a very spooky scene that felt like it was too played for laughs, too pantomimic and it jarred with the text. Also did not see the point at first of making Lady Macbeth pregnant, she is a very cunning, manipulative, ambitious and evil character and if it was a way of showing a different side, more vulnerability or ellicit sympathy, it just didn't gel with the text to begin with.

Didn't find it the most appealing of productions visually always. The costumes are too much of a style mishmash, with not little sense of time or place and the sets take austere to extremes at times. While almost all the cast do very well in their respective roles, this reviewer is in the minority that found Aidan Cheng's Malcolm too immature and too much of a schoolboy.

However, there is a lot to like. Ekow Quartey is a compelling, tortured Macbeth, with some wit, some nobility and also more brutish-ness than usual. Elly Condron curdles the blood in all the right places as Lady Macbeth and her more vulnerable side is much more convincing later as Lady Macbeth increasingly loses her reason, the pregnancy interpolation also makes more sense later as she becomes more guilt ridden and anxious (like with Lady Macduff). Quartey and Condron scintillate together, very true to how the dynamic between them should be and it was very bold to see Macbeth more brutish to his wife (never seen that before and that was interesting).

They are very well supported by a noble Banquo, a poignant Macduff and the truly creepy witches. A vast majority of the staging is tremendously absorbing and the darkness of the play is very much maintained, with some genuine spookiness like the opening scene. As well as the gruesome-ness, which is uncompromising but not in a way where it feels like it's gone too far. There is some nice eerie lighting and absolutely loved the audience participation which really did make them feel like part of the action. The production may be abridged, but the text loses none of its coherence or meaning and is delivered clearly and the drama doesn't feel jumpy or too cliff notes like.

All in all, a lot to like, a lot better than expected considering the couple of red flags that leapt into my head hearing about it and very interesting, but not entirely successful. 6.5/10.