Macbeth Oriel College Arts Festival Tuesday 5th - Saturday 9th June 2001

One wonders whether the organisers of Oriel's Garden Show decided to stage Macbeth before they knew that their college's front quad was to be renovated this summer. Certainly, the grand ornate steps leading up to Oriel Hall would have made a perfect backdrop for a tragedy set in the courts and castles of Scotland's nobility. But their stone-wrought splendour is currently obscured beneath scaffolding, and the players have had to make do with a less auspicious corner of another quad, and some curiously clumsy scenery. From the desultory way in which the scenery was changed at times, one got the impression that the company was feeling the slight.

The actors, do, however, on the whole make the best of their situation, infusing the whole with a vigorous enthusiasm which keeps the (admittedly heavily cut) drama rolling along at an appropriate pace. This is, scenery notwithstanding, a very atmospheric production: from the witches writhing in gloom as the audience arrives, to the rousing beating of the drum which heralds the arrival of the army which brings Macbeth's downfall, the play abounds with interesting devices for drawing the audience emotionally into the action. The noise of birds and passers by serves only to increase the sense of foreboding which pervades the whole of what is an exciting evening's viewing.

Interestingly, though, it would be hard to pick out any of the actors as being especially accomplished in their art. Richard Pettigrew made a sympathetic, thoughtful Macbeth, but had a habit of hanging his head, especially when left to soliloquise. Laura Santana portayed his Lady with poise, but seemed reluctant to crack her mask of sedate urbanity sufficiently to be convincing as the dominant party in the marriage and the mastermind behind murder. Only the three witches were truly excellent: chanting and conjuring with obvious relish, they were completely compelling. Their costumes were by far the best as well.

Young actors often find Shakespeare difficult to perform - to get the text across, and to convey its meaning to modern audiences, requires great skill and projection, especially outdoors. All too often lines can be gabbled, or spoken without due attention to their meaning, or whispered or shouted in an attempt to give them more impact which ends in their not being intelligible at all. This production falls into these pitfalls its fair share of times. But it is also a production filled with good ideas, and an atmospheric, exciting way to spend a summer's evening.

Matthew Rogers, 5 / 6 / 01