CurtainUp
The Internet Theater Magazine of Reviews, Features,
Annotated Listings
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CurtainUp The Internet Theater Magazine of Reviews, Features,
Annotated Listings |
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A CurtainUp London Review
Macbeth
Ray Fearon's years at the RSC ensure he speaks the verse beautifully and his presence is of a soldier more comfortable at war than in a situation of domestic murder. Tara Fitzgerald's voice initially seems too quiet to hold the crowd at the Globe and compete with helicopters but her very sexual interpretation warms up her delivery. Her vocal range is extraordinary as she descends into the deepest, as if cigarette fuelled, register. A child haunts the stage, the missing child in the Macbeth's marriage but confusing for anyone not familiar with the play. I liked Jermaine Dominique's loyal Banquo, both he and Fearon are graduates of Rose Bruford. Banquo's ghost will haunt the banquet under a silk draping canopy. Nadia Albina introduces a comic anachronism as the Porter who would have amused the groundlings in the Elizabethan Pit but whose humour today often misses its mark, even at the Globe where the crowd are so ready to laugh. "Remember the porter!" she says. How could we forget the odd note sounded by the comparison of Trump to Lucifer and the "To remain or not to remain" reference to the referendum on the European Union. Jacob Fortune-Lloyd plays all three children, Donalbain, Fleance and Young Macduff but is denied Fleance's position at the end as heir when the Macbeth's ghost child dominates the closing scene. This isn't a comfortable Macbeth but it isn't laughable either. I can still picture Derek Jacobi in the 1970s loungewear Macbeth. It is a difficult play, fraught with problems but the verse is as poetic as one could wish from a man who should be a hero and might have been, given a different wife. The connection between Fitzgerald and Fearon is not strong despite the attempt at sexual tension. Iqbal Khan's production lost my attention and its momentum as it progressed, having started strongly on the battlefield with the weirdest of sisters. |
Search CurtainUp in the box below PRODUCTION NOTES Macbeth Written by William Shakespeare Directed by Iqbal Khan Starring: Ray Fearon, Tara Fitzgerald, Jermaine Dominique With: Nadia Albina, Elizabeth Andrewartha, Danielle Bird, Scarlett Brookes, Sam Cox, Jacon Fortune-Lloyd, Kerry Gooderson, Terence Keeley, Freddie Stewart, Lloyd Thomas Movement: Coral Messam Set and Lighting Design: Ciaran Bagnall Costume Design: Joan O'Cleary Sound Design: John Leonard Composer: Jocelyn Pook Fight Director: Kevin McCurdy Running time: Three hours with an interval Box Office: 020 7902 1400 Booking to 1st October 2016 Reviewed by Lizzie Loveridge based on 23rd June 2016 performance at Shakespeare's Globe, New Globe Walk, London SE1 (Rail/Tube: London Bridge or St Paul's) Index of reviewed shows still running REVIEW FEEDBACK Highlight one of the responses below and click "copy" or"CTRL+C"
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