MACBETH

ARTISTIC DIRECTOR: RICHARD TWYMAN

ETT (ENGLISH TOURING THEATRE) CAST: ALEX AUSTIN (MACBETH); LOIS CHIMIMBA (LADY MACBETH); GABRIEL AKUWUDIKE (BANQUO); BELLA AUBIN (MALCOLM); DAVID COLVIN (LENNOX); AMMAR HAJ AHMAD (MACDUFF); DANIEL HAWKSFORD (DUNCAN); BIANCA STEPHENS (LADY MACDUFF); SOPHIE STONE (ROSS)

LYRIC HAMMERSMITH THEATRE 

LONDON W6

UNTIL 29 MARCH 2025

Left & right: Alex Austin & Lois Chimimba. Centre: LakosGabriel Akuwudike (Banquo), David Colvin (Lennox), Ammar Haj Ahmad (Macduff), Daniel Hawksford (Duncan), Bella Aubin (Malcolm) and Lois Chimimba (Lady Macbeth). Photos Richard Lakos.

REVIEW by KATHLEEN BONDAR

Artistic Director Richard Twyman’s version of Shakespeare’s Macbeth now playing at the Lyric Hammersmith offers tweaks and variations on the Scottish play. Early Modern English is tricky enough to decipher particularly delivered in the lengthy monologues favoured by The Bard, so injections of colloquialisms (“oh my days”) alongside contemporary props and set design might prove helpful. They certainly provide comic relief. And yet, is this the right fit for a dark tragedy about a nobleman who murders the King and slays anyone in his path aided and abetted by his pathological wife circa 1600?

Adaptations to Shakespeare are likely to raise eyebrows and this is not the first to aim for accessibility for contemporary audiences. It’s not just about moving from received pronunciation; it’s skilful in swapping gender roles and bringing a multicultural cast to traditionally white, male roles in Shakespearean plays.The tweaks in plot are equally intriguing. There’s some divergence from the set text some might remember from school. Does Macbeth end hailing the reign of a Queen? No, but it might be an improvement on the original if that’s permissible.

Perhaps Twyman’s Macbeth overreaches on audience participation. The three witches scene welcomes punters on stage eventually breaking into a Shakespearean rap - “boil, boil, toil and trouble”. It’s funny. It’s entertaining. But these comedic injections have a downside when audience laughter trickles across the most tragic denouement.

Twyman has harnessed a commendable cast all round. Alex Austin from Walthamstow, East London, brings a charged Macbeth to the stage with a local accent and attitude which helps in translation. He plays the part with deft arrogance and self-deception rather like a dealer about to be busted. The gang style hustle occasionally crosses the fourth wall and diverges into something like pantomime with the audience. Austin’s comedic skills would be well placed in a Shakespearean comedy such as As You Like It (which, in fact, he featured at The Globe).

Lois Chimimba is one of the most captivating Lady Macbeths. Her Glaswegian heritage adds an authenticity to the role, which alongside a few other Scots on stage and some fatigue-style kilts and discordant bagpipes brings Birnam Woods to Hammersmith. Chimimba’s delivery is pitch perfect. Her Lady Macbeth is brimming with dark intent and a show stealer.

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