Macbeth

I have signed up to see every show in this season at the Chichester Festival Theatre. One of the highlights had to be Patrick Stewart and a company doing both Macbeth and Twelfth Night.

Patrick Stewart is 67 in July of this year and I am sorry to say this shows in his Macbeth. The production is innovative with lots of good and clever ideas. It is also one of the clearest retelling of the plot or story that I have seen in a very long time. However it is a tale of passion and fury and unfortunately the title performance is too controlled. The Macbeth we meet in the opening scenes is a beserker, a leader who leads from the front bravely if rashly, with no thought for consequences or personal danger. He is promoted beyond his means by an indulgent king and tempted beyond his dreams by dark forces. Mr Stewart's first appearance in combat fatigues and shaven head does not disguise the fact that he carries himself with greater gravitas than the King Duncan of Paul Shelley dressed as a Soviet style generalissimo. The Soviet theme is carried through and the quotes from Joseph Stalin/ George Orwell in the programme underpin the approach here.

Perhaps there is too much deference to Stewart the star actor rather than to the performance itself. He is certainly provided with one of the best Lady Macbeths I have seen in Kate Fleetwood. She is sex and passion combined and her curse inviting in the forces of darkness is indeed tremble making. At times we see her whole body quiver with ambition and the fearfulness of the endeavour upon which she encourages her husband to embark. Her famous breakdown later in the play is clearly forestalled and anticipated by the burning energy the actress imparts into the opening scenes. If anyone has had the good fortune to see Judi Dench in the RSC production deliver "all the scents of Arabia" speech in the handwashing scene, they will know what perfection can be achieved in these great Shakespearian "arias". Miss Fleetwood does not achieve such status but then I found that all the arias or monologues subdued in this production perhaps smothered by the business.

Unfortunately the first encounter between the Macbeths is too restrained and too controlled - a senior diplomat returning home to his trophy wife was one image that flickered through my brain. The brutal co-joining of a man and woman, both surrendering to the impulses of their bodies, both listening to the pounding of the blood in their temples, goes some way to explaining the recklessness with which they abandon sense and surrender to the temptations offered by the forces of darkness.

The forces of darkness are well integrated into this version of the Scottish play and I particularly liked the scene set in a morgue where the weird sisters show Macbeth the future lineage of Scottish kings descended from Banquo. The sense of evil is palpable but without a God, can there be a devil?

The scenes on either side of the interval, where the ghost of Banquo mars the feast, are brilliant and unexpected. Occasionally the production and performances reach unsuspected heights. One such performance must be that of Michael Feast as Macduff. Another older actor, perhaps to match the Macbeth, Michael Feast brings real emotion to the part and perhaps uses the space at the Minerva better than most.

I would encourage everyone to see the production for the clarity of its telling the story of Macbeth. My reservation is that Mr Stewart, a renowned Shakesperian actor, left his playing of the title role till a little too late in his career.