Macbeth – Liverpool Playhouse

Writer: William Shakespeare

Adaptor/Director: Andrew Quick and Pete Brooks

Many will be familiar with the tragedy of Macbeth but Imitating The Dog’s adaption manages to create a Macbeth for the modern audience, while also staying true to Shakespeare’s original. The play warns of the dangers of ambition and greed whilst raising questions surrounding fate and free will. This multimedia production is a true collaboration; with the sound, lighting, music and camera work creating a world that highlights the talent of the five performers.

Theatre company, Imitating the Dog (ITD), have been creating and touring original performance work since 1998. They encourage audiences to view things from different perspectives and aim to set new standards in incorporating digital technology and live performance. Having adapted Shakespeare’s King Lear for a Spanish language version in Chile in 2011, they were eager to bring their innovative ideas to a UK production of another classic.

Co-artistic directors of Imitating the Dog; Andrew Quick, Pete Brooks and Simon Wainwright, spoke of how five performers were all they could afford coming out of the pandemic. However, five performers worked perfectly for the vision – three ensemble members, Laura Atherton, Stefan Chanyaem and Matt Prendergast, play the three witches and multirole as other characters such as Macduff, Malcolm, Banquo and Duncan. A standout performance must be noted from Stefan Chanyaem, who brings an unhinged and powerful quality to his witch before switching so naturally to portray Banquo and Macduff. The ‘weird sisters’ are integral to this production, with it being suggested that they are constantly manipulating the Macbeth’s story and taking delight in their downfall. The three remain on stage throughout, clad in trench coats and clown makeup which they say themselves resemble a sad Heath Ledger’s Joker. They expertly move cameras to follow Lady M and Macbeth, projecting close-ups on two screens on either side of the stage. These cameras capture the intimacy of screen acting whilst audiences can also see the whole picture on stage, a very effective combination.

The witches act as the audience’s inside man to the action, breaking the fourth wall in a combination of original Shakespearean text and modernised speech. On paper this could seem jarring but Shakespeare met slang in a seamless flow that aided understanding. Also speaking like this were Macbeth (Benjamin Westerby) and Lady Macbeth (Maia Tamrakar). They are younger than the couple are normally portrayed as, a pair in their late teens/ early twenties, that, the directors say is purposefully done to elicit more sympathy from an audience. The production is set modern day in an imaginary world of gang lords and violence and the two just want to fit in. Their chemistry together is brilliant, after seeing versions where their marriage is cold and unloving, Westerby and Tamrakar portray genuine care for each other, highlighting the tragedy as their dark plans turn against them. Tamrakar brings fresh nuances to Lady Macbeth as a young girl just trying to survive, made tough by her damaged past, and she has a twist in her story from the original that suits this development.

Although this is far from the original, Macbeth remains a timeless spectacle that works brilliantly through this modernised retelling. The action never feels stale or ‘done before’, with the witches moving the plot along, adding to the feel of the Macbeth’s fates being in their hands. This production is a true example of theatre making, bringing together all departments to create a piece of work that demonstrates the future of theatre.

Runs until 29 April 2023