Writer: William Shakespeare
Director: Ellice Stevens
Not many creatives would look at Macbeth and think that it needs more laughs, certainly if the often-cut ‘comedy’ of the porter scene is anything to go by. But all-female sustainable Shakespeare company The Handlebards – who this summer have swapped their usual bicycles for an electric van to reach even more venues – sees Shakespeare a little differently, and their instincts are absolutely right, filling two hours with physical and verbal comedy that adds an enjoyably entertaining slant to their adaptation of Macbeth performed at The Charterhouse.
Macbeth is a very hard play to get right, and many professional companies and many highly esteemed venues have failed to find its substance, yet The Handlebards make it look effortless not only in the comic overtures they add but in presenting a highly credible and thoughtful version of the play. The complexity exists in how the various elements hang together and the consistent decisions each company makes about what is driving Macbeth and his wife to terrible deeds. It never ultimately matters whether it’s fate or human arrogance, just that it has to be psychologically sound.
Ellice Stevens’ production absolutely nails it with a funny but entirely credible version of the main character, a posh ‘bro’ with a lot of feelings, unable to quite find the confidence he needs to be a murderer or a king. And this feeds nicely through Meredith Lewis’ well-pitched performance as this Macbeth nervously contemplates the prophecy of the Wyrd Sisters, fights with his much stronger wife, who finds him exasperating and seeks comfort in the arms of an audience member, needing a replacement best friend when he kills Banquo. Amplified for comic effect, this Macbeth is entirely driven not by ambition but by incompetence, finding himself constantly out of his depth in hilarious fashion.
With just three cast members playing all the parts and adding a few modern touches along the way, there is lots of innovation in The Handlebards’ show and plenty of character detail with remaining cast members Jazz Harbour and Marianne Kelly dashing around as a fey but musical Malcolm leaping around the stage, a bloodthirsty MacDuff waggling his tongue at the audience and, pleasingly, a Glaswegian Lady MacDuff who puts up a bit of a fight when the heavies come to murder her. Sometimes playing multiple characters in one scene with puppet jackets and with props allowing the cast to jump between roles, this farcical approach is matched by excellent verse speaking when Shakespeare’s text is given primacy. And that ability to know when to be funny but build in the moments of pathos and tragedy adds to the richness of the performance.
Designer Lucy Green offers up a small, tented space like a Punch and Judy show, but again it is in the detail where so much care has been taken, including a giant sulky dagger mask for the famous soliloquy, a tiny puppet body for Fleance worn as a clip-on, and numerous other visual gags. And it all makes coherent tonal sense in Stevens’ approach. There may not be time to relish the language or be fascinated by Macbeth’s non-linear path through the story, but in finding the humour and stealing a lot of audience picnic food, The Handlebards succeed where many have failed in offering a great version of the play.
Reviewed on 14 July 2026 and continues to tour
