Macbeth

One of the pleasures of watching well-performed Shakespeare comes with noting how many figures of speech the Bard coined. However, there is a downside to familiarity with a text.

How seriously can a modern audience ever take a trio of actress chanting 'Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn and cauldron bubble'? Macbeth's blend of the serious with the supernatural poses potential problems for any director.

Lucy Pitman-Wallace's new production features some powerful scenes and exciting sword fighting, but its tone is uneven and there are a couple of significant distractions.

The first of these is the comical height difference between Jimmy Chisholm, playing King Duncan, and all of the other male actors, a disparity made all the more noticeable thanks to Lucy Osborne's slanted set. The second is the use, during dialogue-heavy scenes, of music so quiet that it could be mistaken for a muffled ringtone. There's more of Philip Pinsky's music during some of the more dramatic scenes, but there's something a bit too jolly about it, and it is also played too quietly to have any real impact.

Happily, the production benefits from some strong performances, unsurprisingly given the presence of Liam Brennan in the title role. One of Brennan's great skills, as demonstrated in The Winter's Tale last year, is to convince as a character undergoing a very quick change of perspective.

He is well-matched by Allison McKenzie's charismatic Lady Macbeth, whose voice quivers with excitement reading the word 'king' in her husband's letter home. The promise of power has an aphrodisiac effect, adding extra heat to the couple's passionate reunion.

There is also good work from the supporting cast, including Martin Ledwith as Banquo and Claire Brown as Lady MacDuff. Perhaps the most memorable performance, however, is that of Christopher Brand as MacDuff. In sharp contrast to the rest of the production he presents his character's reaction to the news of his family's slaughter in an entirely naturalistic style, which is more chilling than any witch's spell could ever be.