This new production of Shakespeare’s chilling Macbeth sees Carrie Cracknell and Lucy Guerin collaborating once again, following their production of Medea at the National Theatre. But what have critics made of their latest production?
The Independent: *** Paul Taylor described it as: “a bold make-over that is out to grab the kind of youthful audience that doesn’t come laden with expectations, traditionalist or otherwise.”
The Financial Times: *** Sarah Hemming called it: “a bold, visceral and topical approach. But an excess of innovations ends up blunting its potential and the ever-relevant power of Shakespeare’s drama.”
The Telegraph: ** Dominic Cavendish said: “John Heffernan and Anna Maxwell Martin have their moments as Macbeth and Lady M – understated, lucid and lending old-fashioned gravitas to the hacked-about text.”
The Stage: ** Natasha Tripney was disappointed saying: “there’s something remote and clinical about it as a whole.”
The Evening Standard: *** Henry Hitchings summed it up saying: “this is stylish, disturbing theatre that will have purists tearing their hair out — visually impressive but cold.”
A Younger Theatre: Camilla Gurtler said: ” There are some thrilling moments of dance and drama interlinking, but often they jar and despite having a great vision, they don’t sustain the unity long enough.”
Art Info: Mark Beech found that: “This showtime veers towards “sound and fury, signifying nothing” and doesn’t always gel with the psychodrama. Nonetheless, it remains a most memorable Macbeth for our times, be they “interesting” – or just plain troubled.”
Culture Whisper: *** “The whole show turns on the interplay between action and inaction, and the dance element brings a clever twist to that tension, but key performances don’t offer the nuance to justify the production.”
Whatsonstage: ** Matt Trueman commented: “It’s incoherent and inert, pulling every which way at once and striving so hard to unnerve that it trips into absurdity.”
The Guardian: *** Michael Billington said: “What we are left with is a viscerally exciting production, but one in which movement takes precedence over exploration of meaning.”
Macbeth is on at the Young Vic Theatre until the 23rd January 2016. For more information and to book tickets visit: http://www.youngvic.org/whats-on/macbeth .