Review: Macbeth at Storyhouse in Chester

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With Storyhouse’s much-heralded production of Macbeth hitting the stage, We Are Chester’s Paul Crofts gives us his take on this ambitious, bold and innovative production of one of Shakespeare’s most famous plays. 

Taking on one of Shakespeare’s most well-known and iconic plays and making it relevant to a generation more at home with TikTok and SnapChat than the language of Elizabethan England is no mean feat.

This, however, is what the creative team behind Storyhouse’s reimagining of Macbeth have largely succeeded in doing.

Director Jamie Sophia Fletcher and the production team including lighting and set designer Andrew Exeter, costume designer April Dalton, projection designer Daniel Denton and composer Sarah Victoria have delivered a Macbeth for the modern age.

Complete with its pulsating, menacing soundtrack, this Macbeth rips up the rule book and takes some bold (some might say bizarre) choices to bring the “Scottish Play” up to date. I couldn’t help but wonder what the Bard himself would make of it.

If Shakespeare were producing theatre today, would this be the kind of thing he would bring to the stage? It’s just possible it might be. 

One major niggle for me was that I felt the soundtrack overpowered the dialogue at times, even with the cast mic’d up.

The iconic scene featuring the three witches, for example, was, I feel, somewhat overshadowed by the soundtrack volume which spoiled the scene’s impact.

Strong points were the innovative and very clever use of the set, projection and lighting effects.

‘Talented performers’

There were strong performances from Robin Morrissey as Macbeth and Yolanda Ovide as the scheming, power behind the throne, Lady Macbeth. Roly Botha, playing witch one and Lady Macduff, stood out as the camp porter.

It was good to see the next generation of talented performers being given an opportunity to shine in this landmark production in the Storyhouse Originals season, with some making their professional debut, including Jacob Conor and Ioan O’Neill.

Jacob and Ioan, along with Francesca Hughes, Motheo Maloma and Evie Woodward are all former members of the Storyhouse Young Company which provides free acting training for 18–25-year-olds who are interested in performing.

Accessibility is at the heart of this production with Storyhouse partnering with Hear The Picture to provide audio description whilst each performance of Macbeth is also subtitled. Bravo to Storyhouse for making this theatrical experience fully accessible to all. 

Whilst this production sadly wasn’t my bag, I can, however, appreciate how it sets out to appeal to the younger generation and so, if it encourages more younger people to engage with the arts and  change perceptions about Shakespeare’s work, then surely that’s no bad thing. 

Macbeth runs at Storyhouse, Chester until Saturday 21 March.

Photos: Mark Senior