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Review: Macbeth (Filmed Live at Donmar Warehouse)

Writer's picture: All That DazzlesAll That Dazzles

 Review by Daz Gale

 

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

 

This last year has seen no shortage of fresh takes on Shakespeare classics fill stages around London, with Jamie Lloyd’s takes on Romeo & Juliet and The Tempest as well as the RSC’s recently transferred production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream to name but a few. One of the most excited and acclaimed of them all was the Donmar Warehouse production of Macbeth. A sold out season there was followed by a West End transfer to the Harold Pinter Theatre, becoming one of the hottest tickets in town. If you missed either or both of those runs like I did, you’re in luck as the production lives on in a filmed version, soon to be broadcast in cinemas around the world. With a rather unique sensory experience to be had in the theatre, would it prove to be equally as effective on film?

 


Director Max Webster has taken Shakespeare’s psychological drama and flipped it on its head, turning it into a multi-sensory experience in a ground-breaking production. Audience members across both the Donmar and West End runs were given headsets using binaural sound technology to place them inside the minds of the Macbeths in a fresh and unique take on the tale with Gareth Fry’s inspired sound design one of the true stars of this mesmerising production. The result is a Macbeth like you have never seen before – one that feels even more intimate and almost immersive as whispered voices resonate in your ears.

 

The question is how could this powerful effect be replicated in the cinema? While the result may not feel as intimate, it doesn’t lose any impact of its effectiveness, with the meticulous sound design lending itself well to the cinema sound. At the screening I went to, the surround sound managed to create eerie effects as different voices appeared in different areas of the room, still managing to retain the atmospheric experience. Though I couldn’t compare it completely to how it would have been live in the theatre, as a first time viewer of this production, I still found it incredibly impactful. The constant use of hushed tones and whispered voices made it an unsettling experience at times but a completely awe-inspiring one at that.

 


It isn’t just the use of sound that makes this production of Macbeth so thrilling. Max Webster’s direction has brought something new to the mix. Dark and moody throughout, this successfully achieves what other recent Shakespeare adaptations have attempted yet not always managed. The versatile yet intimate space at the Donmar has been beautifully designed by Rosanna Vize to trap the Macbeths in the middle while cast members loom behind them in a glass box, representing their demons and a sign of what’s to come in another brilliant stroke in Webster’s direction. Movement from Shelley Maxwell ranges from rare moments of colour and light in jubilant dancing to the subtle and tormented way Macbeth moves around the stage.

 

Of course, the other draw to this production was in its star cast. No stranger to Shakespeare, David Tennant takes on the titular role for the first time in his career and easily demonstrates why he has become such an acclaimed actor in recent years. Words could never do justice to the performance Tennant gives as Macbeth full of intensity and anguish as ambition and supposed destiny bring about repercussions that leave their mark. Watching it at the Donmar must have been an intimate experience but that intimacy has been retained for this filmed version (recorded at Donmar Warehouse) as he looks straight into the camera throughout, penetrating it with his gaze and allowing audiences to feel the very nature of his character and look deep into his soul even through the medium of the screen. Few actors would be able to convey this as strikingly as Tennant does. Though I have seen him on stage in several plays over the year, I dare say I have ever seen him as phenomenal as this. This is a Macbeth for the history books – one that leaves its mark in such a way, it will be hard to ever wash it off.

 


Matching Tennant’s brilliance at every turn is Cush Jumbo as Lady Macbeth. With an understated delivery, she proves mesmerising throughout as she slowly loses herself in the series of events leading to her decline. Jumbo showcases true talent as a performer, slowly unravelling throughout the play and never tempted to exaggerate the role, instead opting for subtlety to signify her descent. Her reciting of Lady Macbeth’s iconic “out damn spot” line is delivered powerfully with the whispered echoes of her dialogue creating an ethereal experience.


Running at just under two hours, Macbeth played without an interval, though there is a short break where actor Jatinder Singh Randhawa breaks free of Shakespeare’s dialogue and interacts with the audience in a brilliant use of comedy and improvisation. At odds with the rest of the play, it provides a rare moment of reprieve before the horrors of the climactic scenes commence. Noof Ousellam is another standout as Macduff with a pivotal, emotive scene performed with such authenticity and gravitas, I found myself with goosebumps – something I rarely find in cinema experiences. Casper Knopf takes on several of the younger roles in a professional stage debut that signifies him as a talent to watch in the future.

 


The level of thought and care that has gone into the filming of this production is clear to see from its flawless execution. Beautifully filmed, it somehow eradicates the screen to give the sense you are in the same room, watching this live. By having characters look directly into the character, it provides an intimacy and urgency which led to my heart racing at times. Not every filmed production gets it right with questionable shots or a failure to connect characters with the audience and choices resulting in lost momentum or elements at odds with what it should be. None of that is a problem here in a flawlessly filmed production that plays up to the unique sensory offerings of the original staging to create something truly powerful and hard to fault.

 

Not seeing this production of Macbeth in the theatre will go on as one of my biggest stage regrets. Filming it opens it up to all those who were unable to get tickets or go for one reason or another, as well as bringing it to a much wider audience internationally. This is why it is so important to capture productions like this – while shows can appear for only the most fleeting of times, capturing it can immortalise it and something as good as this Macbeth certainly deserved to be immortalised. It’s not hard to see why everyone came out of the theatre during both its runs being completely blown away. I left the screening feeling exactly the same way. Not just a remarkable production of a legendary play but a truly stunning film too.

 


Macbeth is released in cinemas across the UK, US Australia and selected International territories from 5th February 2025. Check www.MacbethDonmarCinema.com for locations

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