THEATRE REVIEW: Macbeth, Clwyd Theatr Cymru, Mold

May 8 2008 by Lew Baxter, Liverpool Daily Post

Owen Teale as Macbeth in the Clwyd Theatr Cymru production, directed by Terry Hands _320

THERE is more shade than light in Shakespeare’s take on the aspirations of Macbeth and his wife, who dIspatch King Duncan to take his throne: director Terry Hands has opted on this occasion for a spirited if very dark and sombre spin on the tale.

At the same time, he infuses certain startling theatrical effects, such as the almost heart- stopping beginning, which explodes into life with fire, fury, clashing blades and blood.

This production, featuring an almost all-Welsh cast, with Owen Teale in the title role, is thrown into stark relief by a bare stage with elemental lighting, another Hands decision.

It is fast-paced and often relentless in the bleakness that Macbeth’s dirty deed evokes and while Teale has an imperious stance, his descent into a madness forged by the treachery comes on at perhaps too fast a lick, rather than a gradual, babbling collapse of sanity. Vivien Parry, a Mold favourite like Teale, is a fine foil as Lady Macbeth, as she uses wily cunning to persuade her husband of the merits of assassinating Duncan and lifting the Scottish crown.

Yet her own manic breakdown, as she observes the wild-eyed Macbeth, sees the hysteria surfacing a tad too early, rather than succumbing to an initial bewildered incomprehension, which should maybe have also been the mood of the po-faced courtiers.

Still, this is just a minor niggle in an interpretation that is overall first-rate and fair bounds along with barely a falter, while engaging a talented supporting cast.

The three witches conjure up the anticipated elements of sorcery that define both the plot and the denouement and Hands has dispensed with the annoying cackles in favour of a more eerie vocal swooping format. Indeed, their predications of Macbeth’s ultimate downfall rely on the reality that his nemesis Macduff – a powerful, imposing presence thanks to Nicholas Beveney – was not born of woman.

This revelation was, however, rather muffled as the two engage in mortal combat, and could confuse the resolution for those unfamiliar with the text.