Review by Rosalind Taylor
The play Macbeth was written by William Shakespeare and has had many adaptions since then. I saw the recent version which was produced by the National Theatre in 2017.
This very famous play is about a man called Macbeth who is told by three witches that he will rise through the ranks and become king. In order to become king, he has to kill others but in return receives punishment.
Macbeth is first shown as a hero but later the image of that shatters.
The first thing I noticed about this production of the play was that it was very gender neutral as Banquo was played by a woman, while other characters, such as one of the witches, had their genders changed. I thought this was a good idea.
The clothing had a realistic design and was fitted to the performance, while the backdrops did not change throughout the play. The lighting was always dark and this suits the play, as this is meant to be an upsetting play. It fits with the sinister mood. I enjoyed the play overall.
Review by Miranda Taylor
The production that we watched was Macbeth by the National Theatre. It was 1hr 44 minutes. Though it was a shorter version, I felt it dragged on a bit. I felt a bit bored though it was good, well set out and easy to understand.
Macbeth’s main theme is jealously. Macbeth is jealous of the king, though it’s also a tiny bit romantic because of Macbeth’s wife and her hypnotising him to kill Malcolm.
They only used the same stage set throughout the play, though this could be a good or bad thing. They made it look like lots of different places, such as a house and a castle, because it was used well. On the other hand, this might be seen as lazy to some people.
This production is very educational and taught me more about Macbeth and Shakespeare’s stories.
Overall, the lighting effects, costumes and everything in this play were good.
About the reviewers
Rosalind Taylor is twelve years old. She enjoys manga and has a twin sister called Miranda. Miranda Taylor is also twelve years old and also likes manga.
The latest version of Macbeth hit the big-screen recently, directed by Justin Kurzel (who brought us Snowtown, which if you haven’t seen is well worth catching; brutal, grim and based on a true story it’s worth bracing yourself before you press play on that one...)
I digress, back to Macbeth, this time we have Michael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard in the lead roles. Visually sumptuous, the cinematography is exhilarating (and could easily be cast as a character in its own right) some interesting modern flourishes to the story and generally casting is spot on with Fassbender immensely affecting and pretty much perfect as the initially sceptical and apprehensive would-be king turned maniacal tyrant. My only issue with the film is, and it pains me to type this, Cotillard as Lady Macbeth. Don’t get me wrong, I love her, I think she’s a fantastic actor and has a great screen presence but a presence which doesn’t quite ring true for this role, her understated take on the character lacking any ‘theatrical’ quirks (a good thing) but also lacking (a bad thing) in that believable insidious lust for power that in my head, the character is consumed by, not just for her husband but herself. In my ever-so-humble-opinion, it’s the Lady Macbeth character that’s the driving force of the play and sadly I just didn’t get that from Cottilard’s performance, nonetheless , the film as a whole is definitely worth watching.
Now then, for a pretty awesome Macbeth-y film I would highly recommend Akira Kurosawa’s Throne of Blood, which loosely takes the story and sticks it into a feudal Japan. Starring Kurosawa stalwart and long-time collaborator, Toshiro Mifune as Taketoki Washizu in the Macbeth role, and even given the deviations from the original source (of which there are many, including having just one witch instead of three who, by the way gave me the heebiejeebies) for the most part it’s a fantastic take on the Scottish Play. The point of me mentioning this now, sapping the last vestige of your patience is simply the performance by Isuzu Yamada, who plays Lady Asaji Washizu (the Lady Macbeth equivalent role). Creepy as hell, hugely impressive and wholly believable as the quietly Machiavellian wife whose whispering words in her husband’s shell-like unleash a murderous monster before falling to pieces as the realisation and ramifications of her machinations make themselves at home. A mesmerising, stunning and exquisitely pitched performance, well worth a peek.
About the reviewer
Dips Patel is a graduate in Graphic Design which means he can colour in without going over the lines and when he does he makes it look deliberate, cool and edgy. He much prefers fine art where the art of talking nonsense is finer still allowing him extremely moderate success in introducing his work to a wider audience. Hobbies include reading stuff, watching stuff, commendably misguided attempts at painting stuff and consuming copious amounts of coco pops, clementines, curries, cakes and cocktails, not all at the same time which is frowned upon in polite society.
