Macbeth - The Courtyard
The Courtyard is a tiny theatre, almost a converted garage next door to King’s Cross. When I arrived and looked around, I couldn’t help but shudder at the prospect of what I thought was going to be a long and tedious evening. How wrong I was!
As the theatre is so small, you sit exceptionally close to the stage which is on the same level as the audience. The actors enter some of the time from the aisle between the seats with the result that the audience is drawn physically as well as mentally into the play. Surely what the Bard originally intended.
Although the quality of the acting is variable, the supporting actors in particular are to admired for the way they slip so easily from one character to the next. Pol Bannon as Macbeth comes across as a weak man initially, easily led by his wife. But after he has completely surrendered himself to power and corruption, he tips over the boundary and turns into a mad tyrant. However, the sense that he is a tragic victim of circumstances, once embarked on a course no longer able to wrest himself free is missing. I cannot fault Jayne Massey as Lady Macbeth. Her hunger for power and her relentless ambitions sent shivers up my spine. She is utterly convincing as the mad queen, overtaken by guilt and unable to wash herself of the blood that stains her.
The highlight of the evening though were the three witches. Mari Colabelli, Helena Tuckett and Michaela Cussen. Without any props, no kettle to crouch around, no wands or cats, they cackled and hissed and danced and wove spells, completely overpowering the audience with the sense of pure, unadulterated evil. The Voodoo music, Bongo drums and the weird red purple lighting only hightened the effect. The RSC should take a leaf out of their books.
It well worth pottering down to see this production. There were only ten people watching that evening and at the end, however hard we clapped, it just didn’t seem loud enough. You will enjoy this intimate theatre and there are worse ways to spend an evening than listening to three witches chant: ‘Bubble, bubble, double trouble…’ Emma
