Macbeth – Smock Alley – Review
by Frank L.

Dates – 23 Mar – 2 Apr | Main Space
Production by: Volta Theatre Company

Volta Theatre Company comes with a new iteration of their 2024 production of this classic play. The main space in Smock Alley presents its own unique challenges. The set design by Chrysi Chatzivasileiou, made up of blocks of pallets interspersed with curtains, creates flexibility, given the substantial number of entrances and exits which occur in the play.

The play encroaches on the audience imperceptibly as two of the three witches enter from opposite sides of the auditorium before the play has actually begun. They are not dressed like witches but more like down-and-outs from a Vaudeville show, with one of them strapped into an accordion. Each is reading the palms of individual members of the audience. Following the usual house announcements, the two witches are joined on stage by the third, who is flimsily attired. They chant together their mysterious opening lines, accompanied by the accordion.

Everything moves at a cracking pace with most members of the cast attired in differently coloured jump suits and people of rank, with a tartan drape. However, when King Duncan appears, his head is adorned with a crown. As king, he is the representative of power, which is Macbeth’s obsession. When Duncan is murdered, Macbeth appears subsequently wearing the crown while his wife, Lady Macbeth, wears a small coronet. Power has transferred.

The word “blood” plays an important part in the text of the play. It is visually represented in all its gory horror by Banquo when he appears, having been violently murdered, as a ghost, his body heavily besmeared in blood.

In this production, the nine members of the cast play nineteen characters. It is only Liam Hourican as Macbeth and Lesley Conroy as Lady Macbeth who play a single role. The strength of the production is the ability of the ensemble to portray the various insecurities and fears which so bedevil Macbeth.

It lasts a mere hour and forty minutes, so there is no time to ponder as the story unfolds at considerable speed. The cast holds the audience’s attention even if the rapidity of the action makes it a challenge at times to keep up. It is valuable to see a professional production of a Shakespeare play, which is not all that common nowadays. It is especially valuable where the production places primary reliance on the actors’ ability and skills rather than costly sets and costumes.