Macbeth

Macbeth has never been filled with as much youthful angst as when he sings: “Is this a dagger which I see before me, the handle toward my hand?”

This new musical version of Macbeth, from composer Garth McConaghie and director Stuart Harvey for Youth Music Theatre UK, tightens Shakespeare’s text down to just 85 minutes. Many scenes simply use the original text, before songs force the audience to linger and meditate on specific moments.

The work is at its most electrifying when this musical treatment is used to bring out new ideas from the text. As Macbeth sings “tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow”, Hecate grabs his head and forces him to watch her witches manipulating people. If a player’s life is spent strutting and fretting upon the stage, that stage belongs to Hecate.

Harvey consistently centres the role of the witches in Shakespeare’s text. In the opening scene we watch them dress the rest of the characters; they spend the production on the sidelines of the action, often draped around a CCTV vision of the stage. The young women that take on these roles—grey schoolgirl dresses, stiff jittering limbs, zombied eyes—are the highlight of the ensemble.

It’s a slightly uneven production: microphone issues mean some lines are lost; selective subtitles are distracting and some details are missed. But it’s an interesting take on Macbeth, well composed and sung by an assured cast. And in the end, perhaps a healthy dose of musical angst is the best way for teenagers to create, and view, the Scottish Play.