The Stage

Macbeth

Published Wednesday 23 March 2005 at 11:50 by Dave Windass

Aside from tons of sand that surely threaten a stage collapse, it is puppets aplenty in the Royal’s heavily stylised production of Macbeth.

Leeds puppetmaker John Barber brings a lot to this piece of work, creating an extremely eerie, unnatural world, showing that where stage violence is concerned, puppets can be much more than a handy device and also adding in dashes of humour. As puppets fly around the stage, Christopher Madin’s original oriental percussion compositions are e a sonic sensation, utilising drums and a Chinese guzheng. The production’s opening salvo is an assault of tribal drumming that immediately grips audience attention.

That aural assault is matched by the production design from director Damian Cruden himself, who appears to have developed a passion for the far east. Sticking with the oriental feel, this Macbeth has the look of Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai, with colour-coded kariginu-style costumes and is played out in a massive black sand pit, out of which pop all manner of creepy crawlies. Cruden’s design, which also includes some masterful use of curtains, is aided enormously by Malcolm Rippeth’s jaw-dropping lighting.

In light of the above brilliance, the highly competent barefoot, sword-wielding players are somewhat up against it trying to make their mark. Terence Maynard certainly proves his mettle, initially something of a wet week but sending his Macbeth overboard early in the proceedings, while Barbara Marten’s Lady Macbeth gets lost in her own battle with insanity.

At just two hours long, the work does rattle along nicely and it certainly looks pretty as a picture.