Theatre review: Macbeth (RSC / The Other Place)

Macbeth is one of the Shakespearean big hitters that can generally be relied upon to sell well in the RSC's biggest auditorium, so it's interesting to see a comparatively starry production get consigned to the studio space. Maybe it's a tribute to the famous McKellen/Dench production that also played The Other Place in the 1970s; more likely it's that Daniel Raggett's production didn't want to sacrifice the intimacy that becomes a major feature of its single setting. That setting is a Scottish pub run by Sam Heughan's Macbeth and Lia Williams' Lady Macbeth, the base of operations for a violent '80s criminal gang run by Duncan (Gilly Gilchrist,) who makes his intentions clear about who should eventually replace him: Early on his son Malcolm (Calum Ross) is made, possibly as a sort of initiation, to slit the throat of the treacherous Cawdor with a box cutter. But a supernatural trio has other ideas.

In an interpretation I'm surprised I don't see more often, Eilidh Fisher, Irene Macdougall and Alison Peebles are maiden/mother/crone witches who appear in the pub one night to tell Macbeth he will be the next king - but with a coda, that his reign won't last and his friend Banquo will ultimately sire a more enduring line.

This is high on concept but, for the most part, low on frills, an edited and switched-around text putting the emphasis on pace rather than bells and whistles. In any case that setting is largely whistle enough, Anna Reid's in-the-round design giving us a local pub that's not quite dingy, but not particularly welcoming either, although that might be more to do with the regulars than the decor. What it does increasingly succeed at is making the action claustrophobic, culminating in the place getting barricaded.

There are a few tropes here that are becoming quite common recently, like an all-Scottish cast except for an outsider English Lady Macbeth, the latter being the one to warn the Macduffs of their impending danger, Lady Macduff (Jamie Marie Leary) appearing earlier to give us more of a connection both to her and her husband, and the ending hinting at the fact that the cycle of violence isn't over, since the victorious Malcolm's line is not prophesied to be the ultimate winner. But there's enough neat little touches I haven't seen before to make the action stand out to me as much as the setting.

My favourite twist being the latest attempt to expand on the iconic but fairly small role of Lady Macbeth, as she becomes the Second Murderer: After her husband refuses to tell her his plans, she lies to his henchman that he's sent her along - a clever touch, he does always seem surprised to have someone join him - and witnesses the betrayal and murder of Banquo. It means Fleance's escape is no fluke as she ensures it, and begins her redemption from instigator to haunted soul.

Michael Abubakar's Porter also gets conflated with the First Murderer and Seyton, giving him his own character arc of increasing complicity, and Raggett switches around where some of the deaths take place: The Macduffs are chased off stage, but Lady Macbeth's mental breakdown climaxes in an on-stage suicide that culminates in Heughan's most notable moment, delivering "Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow" while dancing with his wife's body.

There's some decent creepy moments (although the phone ringing during the cauldron* scene and the prophecy not being delivered down the line, really?) and given how open the set is there's some clever moments of sneaking Nicholas Karimi into the action as Banquo's ghost. (Karimi's unfortunately been saddled with a seedy '80s 'tache, possibly because he wasn't allowed to out-DILF the star.) He does get to throw playing cards at Macbeth to represent the line of kings, which I really enjoyed.

Heughan to this point I've not known so much as an actor, as I have an article that's appeared every couple of months for the last decade about how he's going to be the next James Bond unless he isn't; and although he's perfectly good this isn't particularly the kind of production to really flex his muscles, not the acting kind anyway. But in fairness when the peril is "who gets to be in charge of killing people with a hammer?" there's probably only so much character development we can care about.

It's the overall effect that this is going for and the sense of chaos building in an enclosed space is well-developed. The only time the idea of this all taking place in the same space wobbles is in the scene in England, but since that one rarely works until Macduff (Alec Newman) gets his bad news it's probably not worth changing your whole conceit for. And the setting does mean that in a show not exactly overwhelmed with gags, we do get Birnam Wood coming to Dunsinane to mean "using a tree trunk as a battering ram to break into the pub" so I enjoyed that as much as the King cards.

Macbeth by William Shakespeare is booking until the 6th of December at The Other Place, Stratford-upon-Avon (returns only.)

Running time: 2 hours 40 minutes including interval.

Photo credit: Helen Murray.

*the witches put the cauldron on a Calor gas cooker, delightful