The Macbeth Project – Supernatural predictions, visions, cold-blooded murder and coverup … all before the bell for break! (Bright Umbrella’s school tour + Sanctuary Theatre 19–21 October)

Back when I was young, most of the GCSE English Literature classes in school studied Robert Bolt’s Man For All Seasons (based on the life of Sir Thomas More), leaving just one class – not mine! – getting to grips with the Bard’s Scottish Play. It’s been seven years since I last caught a stripped back production of Macbeth aimed at schools. While purists may hate the removal of many of the smaller characters and the trimming of important but not crucial fat, abridged performances get to the heart of the story and the reasons why the main characters behave the way they do.

Bright Umbrella’s director Trevor Gill addressed the couple of hundred students who had been assembled in the school gym first thing in the morning to watch The Macbeth Project. It’s still on the GCSE curriculum, and half of them were studying it this year for their exams in June, and the rest would be taking it on next September.

Gill took them back to the play’s first run in 1606. Less gentile times for audience members in the Globe Theatre. A black flag would have flown above the theatre, indicating to the approaching punters that they were being served up a tragedy. It was a time when witches weren’t a bit of fun for Halloween; people suspected of witchcraft were rounded up, tried and burnt or drowned. Macbeth was written to be entertainment for the masses, so the students were told to feel free to clap and cheer and react to the on stage drama.

A cast of five take on fourteen or so characters and three witches. Simple adornments – a crown, coloured sashes and cummerbunds, a silver dagger – are used to mark out the characters and where their loyalties lie. The staging is bare except for a wooden box and the black curtains providing side and central entrances for the cast.

Glenn McGivern is the opportunistic Macbeth, aided by his ambitious wife Lady Macbeth (Christine Clark). Neil Heaney steps onto the stage as Duncan and Banquo, while Niomi Liberante and Andrew McNeill mop up many of the other roles.

The short scenes in this 70-minute version keep attention levels high. Sound effects introduce new locations (bird sound indicating that it’s outside) and at times the cast step down off the stage and get closer to the student audience. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s passionate clinch entertains the adolescent audience and reminds them that these two are in lockstep along their path to power.

A porter interrupts proceedings, styled like a school caretaker, noisily moving through the students and up onto the stage, gradually morphing back into his Shakespearean character. As the play heads towards its gory conclusion, we see Macbeth and his troubled soul living with the consequences and anguish of his own bloody actions. As my Mum might have said, “Be sure your sins will find you out”. The Macbeths learn this the hard way. The small cast confidently dart on and off stage, switching roles and keeping the pace up as increasing amounts of blood needs wiped off their hands.

While Shakespeare set his stories in the past, four hundred years later the themes touch on the conflict between Hamas and Israel as well as other contemporary situations. The quest for power, the brutal taking of power, and the terrible consequences play out daily. None of that will come up in the summer exams, but the Bard does provide food for thought. While Bright Umbrella (in association with their sponsor FinTru) would no doubt welcome schools getting in touch to book a performance in front of their students, the general public can also enjoy this current cast who will be appearing in the Sanctuary Theatre in east Belfast for four shows between Thursday 19 and Saturday 21 October.

Some production shots may feature previous cast members or understudies.

Enjoyed this review? Why not click on the Buy Me a Tea button!