The Bell Shakespeare production of Macbeth, directed by John Bell, takes on an unusual setting to the play, but without doubt it falls short, lacking real substance, but full of bells and whistles. Although the play is not a disastrous performance in any sense, it fails to engage the audience and ultimately leaves an unsatisfying impression of the play.Bells production of the play is set approximately a thousand years later, in the midst of a battlefield. The setting is rather convincing with its decent costuming and the stage design, which cleverly incorporates ruined electronically applianc ...view middle of the document...
Bells production of the play turns Macbeth from a fallen hero into an outsider. Although this may seem a good idea as it enhances the evil side of Macbeth, it also means that we see Macbeth as a distant character. Paired with the absence of action of the final seen, all we feel is a great deal of apathy when Macbeth is finally killed, feeling no sympathy or contempt as he falls.However the members of the cast gave reasonable performances. I thought that Macduff was a big standout of the play, as his passion and his intensity throughout the play helped the audience connect with the character. Both Lady Macbeth and Malcolm give solid performances throughout, but the actor playing Macbeth himself gave a lukewarm performance. He tries to fill the role of an outsider, which he tries to fulfil by sudden bursts of anger, which further detaches the audience from him.The other major disappointment was the production of the play. The play lacked much of the props and the scenery, which made the play rather dull and gloomy. The play dragged on for too long, offering little variation throughout the whole of the play, even in some of the key scenes, failed to produce any excitement.Overall the Bell Shakespeares version of Macbeth was a disappointment, not providing adequate justice for the original.