25 July 2013
Having
heard nothing but good reports about the National Theatre's NT Live
screenings of stage shows in cinemas, I thought it was about time I
tried the experience myself. The Manchester International Festival
production of Macbeth, starring and co-directed by Kenneth Branagh
(with Rob Ashford) was such a hot ticket the entire run sold out
within nine minutes of going on sale. So the only way I was going to
see it was via the NT Live screening last Saturday, when the final
performance in Manchester was broadcast to cinemas across the
country. It was magnificent – both the production and the
experience of watching it live on the big screen. The show was
expertly captured with multiple camera angles (including Busby
Berkley overhead shots) making it feel almost like being there, but
with a much better view and excellent sound that meant you didn't
miss a syllable of the text. It was irritating that there were some
problems with the synchronisation of the sound and pictures (at least
where we saw it at Cineworld in Milton Keynes) but otherwise the
screening was technically excellent. Macbeth was performed in a
deconsecrated church in Ancoats - a customised theatre space with a
long, thin central performance area running the length of the church
and faced on both sides by an audience boxed in raked pews enclosed
by wooden boards which made them look more like the spectators at a
Quidditch match! The floor was rough and muddy, particularly after
the opening battle scene had taken place in driving rain – the
increasingly dirty hem of Lady Macbeth’s long dress emphasising the
gritty reality of the play. This was a brutal, visceral Macbeth –
with believably violent swordfights and plenty of Kensington Gore.
Kenneth Branagh managed to make Macbeth a real and sympathetic
character, while demonstrating a delicacy and precision in the
language of the play. Alex Kingston was a powerful Lady Macbeth and
the scene in which Ray Fearon’s Macduff learned of the slaughter of
his wife and children was achingly poignant. The whole cast were very
strong – with Alexander Vlahos particularly standing out as
Malcolm.
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