"Macbeth" by Lace Market Theatre Youth Group.

Lace Market Theatre.

The darkest, spookiest and bloodiest of Shakespeare’s tragedy plays, and also the most exciting. It’s the story of the lust for power and greed and how this all comes at a deadly price for those who seek it.

A coven of witches envisage that Macbeth will be the King of Scotland, and once this prophecy has been received by Macbeth, he decides to make sure that this vision becomes a reality, and that means getting rid of a few people that stand in his way. Ambition and drive though can come with terrifying consequences, as Macbeth and his family soon discover.

We have three young actors playing the lead role of Macbeth, Binobi Bear, Emily Wilson and Noah Ash. We see various stages of Macbeth with these three actors, and there were clever transitions from each actor to the next, which reminded me slightly of how new Dr Whos are introduced to the programme.

Each of the three actors gave very good performances showing the growth in Macbeth and his power. Noah, who finalised the trilogy exuded power and anger, especially during his final battle with MacDuff; Emily gave a slightly alternative, but no less powerful performance, and Binobi's banquet scene was done exceedingly chillingly. 

Another scene that was done afresh was the "Is this a dagger that I see before me" scene where Macbeth sees the dagger that is used to murder Duncan, held aloft by one of the witches, giving us the idea of the invisibility of the witches, which also explains that wherever the witches appeared in other scenes, we knew that they could  not be seen.

Lady Macbeth is played by Viola Herbert. There are some wonderfully coercive scenes involving Lady Macbeth, and several versions of the play indicate that she is the puppet master, and Viola brings that possibility to the stage. Lady Macbeth's "All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand" speech, where she expresses her guilt and inability of any remedy to wash away the stain of her actions is presented really well, and Viola brings a real passion for Shakespeare, as well as a real understanding of the character. 

There are normally only three witches in this play but seven youngsters play the Witches; Alicia Carolea, Anya Burrows, Keeley Nason, Lauren Tanner, Liv Fenyn, Raya Harris and Tilly Plant. There are witches in practically every scene which gives that impression that they follow the characters around wherever they go; quite an eerie feeling, and the physicality of the witches, cricking their necks, jerky movements etc. create that feel of unease. I do not know which witch was which but the young lady with the long black hair was extremely unnerving with her staring eyes and ever grinning smile.

What I also liked was the decision to have the witches collect the dead, almost in a way that the dark evil shadows in the film "Ghost" appeared after a death to transport them down to hell. The decision to have so many witches was novel and I can see why this was now because the closed in on the death scenes and spirited away the corpses.

Banquo is played by Sonny Hale. Sonny's reappearance at the banquet scene looks great, well not so great for Banquo as - for anyone who doesn't know - is dead! Great make up for this appearance and a great reveal as the cowled figure takes his place at the table.

Macduff is played by Rory Squire. Every actor on stage have done their homework on the characters and their back story and have great understanding of the script and how to deliver the script. Rory is just one of many standout actors for me and delivers extreme passion in every scene. The scene with Macbeth at the end is acted so well with the fight choreography being frighteningly real. 

I don't think this is really a spoiler as most people know the outcome, but when Macduff drives his sword into Macbeth's chest, you get the feeling that Rory really is enjoying this particular scene, and looks incredibly real. In fact all of the death scenes throughout this Scottish play are done incredibly well.

King Duncan, the victim of a well-plotted murder in a power grab by his trusted captain Macbeth and his wife,  is played by Alfie Saxton.

Malcolm, one of two sons of Malcolm is played by Jess Erwin-Jones. Malcolm flees to England after his father's death, later rallying an army to overthrow Macbeth and restore order to Scotland. 

Donalbain, Malcolm's other son, and Mentieth, one of the Scottish noblemen who opposes Macbeth, is played by Tom Harbord.

Fleance (son of Banquo), Macduff's Son and Young Siward are played by Logan Cordall. I mentioned earlier about the realism of the death scenes, and I must say that I actually winced with the scene that Logan played when he was stabbed to death in the second act. As Macduff's son he also gets to die dramatically.

Ross is played by Chantee Parsons-Vaughn. Ross acts as a messenger repeatedly in the play, delivering the news of the Thane of Cawdor’s treachery to Duncan, announcing to Macbeth that he has been promoted to Thane, reporting to Macduff that his family has been slaughtered, and finally telling Siward of his son’s death in battle.

Lennox is played Mikey Cleaver. Lennox is  one of the Thanes who deserts Macbeth once Malcolm invades, bringing reinforcements to Malcolm’s army, and is well-informed of who is with Malcolm.

Lady Macduff is played by Abigail Williams-Smith. Not a very big part as Macbeth has her killed off with Macduff's children while he away plotting his overthrow of Macbeth.

Caithness is played by Esme Kirkby. As a Scottish nobleman and loyal supporter of King Duncan, Caithness finds himself caught in the midst of the power struggle and treachery that consumes the kingdom.

Seyton is played by Amelie McKiernan-Haynes. Seyton serves an important role in the play as a loyal servant to Macbeth

The Priest, the Attendant and the Doctor are played by Jack Carter.

Macbeth's Servant is played by Ruby Hingley.

Captain Siward, The Earl of Northumberland and leader of the English army, is played by Edgar Shelton.

Angus is played by Freya Snowball-Hill. Like all the Thanes Angus is loyal to Duncan and hates any traitors.

Lady Macbeth's Gentlewoman is played Sylvie Monaghan.

I have always said that young people should actually experience Shakespeare in the theatre, not just given the book to read and write precis's of characters at school in Literature lessons. My only experience of Shakespeare at school was reading "The Merchant Of Venice" and having to write about Shylock. I didn't take to the script or the story, but my love for the Bard may have had deeper roots if I'd have been taken to a theatre to see something like this on stage.

This cast have obviously done their homework and also obviously love the stories because the passion comes across, as well the understanding of the script and character from the stage. I've seen so many versions of "Macbeth" over the years, but for me, the play is like a favourite record. If the tune and the words are good, you can hear several different versions and genres of said song, and still enjoy the record. A good Director can deliver a fresh tune that people can enjoy, whether it's the first listen or the person loves the song and likes to hear a new and fresh version. I know, weird analogy, but I always like to hear how a fresh remix can refresh an old tune. You get what I'm saying here?

Directed by Malcolm Todd, assisted by Ian Smith and Ben Dixon. This trio have given me a fresh remix that I have enjoyed playing. There are things in this production that is new i.e. the use of more than three witches, but there were scenes that just seemed new to the story that, maybe I had forgotten, but now appeared fresh in the hands of this cast and Directors. In other words, this production is right up there with some of the best versions of this play that I've seen on stage.

Set Design is by Alex Hopkirk-Spratt, and the set is constructed by Alex Hopkin-Spratt, Anthony Inkley, Guy Evans, Aaron Connelly, Stuart Severn, Steve Musson, Chris Coleman and Laurence Bembridge. When you walk into the theatre, the initial impact is huge, especially with the big central construction. The simplicity of turning a tree trunk into the table for the banquet and the paintings on either side of the stage of the bloodied hands on a black background makes you think that the blood of the murdered characters are really in the creation of the castle walls. Very evocative.

Lighting Design is by Allan Green. There were many scenes that were in half light which created just the right mysterious and eerie feel to this dark play.

Sound Design is by Aaron Connelly. As always with the Lace Market Theatre, the sound is always extremely clear. All actors have really good projection so mics are not needed, and I heard every word from every actor. Sometimes with young actors projection can be an issue, possibly due to nerves, but that was not an issue with this play, in fact much of the anger and passion which is needed for a play like this creates the need for natural voice projection, which they all had.

Stage Manager for this large cast is Gareth Morris and having someone as experienced as Gareth in charge of this role meant that the pace was really kept up, often with one group of actors exiting while the next lot were already on their way to the stage. Assistant Stage Manager is Alex Hayball.

Props, and there are quite a few are managed by Ali Lit and Lesley Brown.

Max Bromley's costumes are yet another fantastic and apt highlight of this production.

There's even a Witches Coordinator, who is Lucie Conroy, making sure that everything relating to the Witches, from the movements and set placing for them are taken care of and co-ordinated.

Fight Co-ordinator is thanks to Jon Buckeridge from Action Combat. As I have already commented on above, the inclusion of this external team has profited the young cast and gives excellent realism to all of the battle scenes.

"Macbeth" has long been my favourite Shakespeare tragedy, and this is the youngest cast I have seen perform this play. They may be the youngest but that was soon forgotten due to the energy and passion (I know I use that word a lot but I really do mean it) and this production is right up there for quality, excitement and energy with all but one production (I was not a fan of the touring Royal Shakespeare Company's version from a few years ago), so this is even better than the RSC version in my humble opinion. I am also sure that this cast will remember this production for as long as the enthusiastic audience will, and that for me is going to be a very long time.

"Macbeth" is at the Nottingham Lace Market Theatre until Saturday 29 March.

Photography by Grace Eden Photography