Review: MACBETH, The Depot, Liverpool

Multiple theatre companies have adapted and performed Shakespeare’s Macbeth in the past year, including the latest production starring Ralph Fiennes and Indira Varma at Liverpool’s The Depot.

Adapted by Emily Burns, the production sees the story transported to modern day. Excellently designed and featuring an incredible cast who keep the story moving quickly from scene to scene, it is a unique and innovative interpretation of the play that keeps you engaged from start to finish.

Frankie Bradshaw’s cleverly crafted set design immediately immerses the audience into the story as soon as you walk into the venue.

Performed in new warehouse venue The Depot in Liverpool, the space is well utilised and sees the stage set before the story even begins, with a car in flames and rubble scattered on the floor, as soldiers stare at the audience walking through the landscape to their seats.

The use of thrust staging allows the audience on all three sides an excellent view throughout. Continuing the immersive theatre aspect, the cast use the staging to walk and run through the audience. From an impressive scene featuring the cast carrying tree branches through the audience to create the forest in the final battle scenes, to the phenomenal Indira Varma staring at a single audience member on the stairs as her character Lady Macbeth speaks about the murder of King Duncan, the audience do not simply watch the story - they become part of it.

Christopher Shutt’s sound design heard deep breaths echoing throughout the venue before, during and after the show. Combined with Jai Morjaria’s lighting design, which plunged the audience into darkness before revealing the witches (played superbly by Danielle Fiamanya, Lucy Mangan and Lola Shalam) in a tense and climatic moment at the beginning, the light and sound design built the atmosphere throughout the production brilliantly.

While sometimes the sudden dimming of the lights as the story moved from scene to scene took me out of the story slightly in act one, this seems to rectify itself in act two. The cast move quickly onto the stage as props are moved, making the second act move more swiftly and seamlessly than the first.

The attention to detail in the set is also well thought out. Three pairs of hands suddenly appear on the screens at the top of the stairs, pre-empting the scene that unfolds with King Duncan’s murder. A bowl of water on a table in act one also foretells the later scene where Lady Macbeth sees blood of her hands, while the walls of the set drip with blood as both she and Macbeth struggle with their guilt over the murders. Every aspect of the production design adds an extra layer to Macbeth, with clever nods to the events that are to unfold as the story progresses.

Macbeth also sees Ralph Fiennes reuniting with director Simon Godwin, with whom he worked on Antony and Cleopatra. Once again Fiennes impresses as the titular character, using the resonance of his voice to show a Macbeth who is consistently conflicted by the decisions he makes as Fiennes speaks famous lines including, “Is this a dagger I see before me?”

His chemistry with Varma is also incredible to watch. The proximity of the pair - from holding one another to Fiennes dropping to his knees as he puts a hand over Varma’s stomach - showed how Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are intertwined almost as one character for the first half of the play. Yet their distance in the second act shows how the two are torn apart, not only from each other, but by their own guilt over their actions. Both Fiennes and Varma deliver performances worthy of a standing ovation - which they and indeed the entire cast (who were phenomenal to watch throughout) received at the end of the night.

If you are still yet to see Macbeth at The Depot, or will be one of the many seeing the production as it tours to The Royal Highland Centre in Edinburgh, Dock X in London or Washington D.C in 2024, this is a show not to be missed.

Macbeth is at The Depot, Liverpool until 20 December, 2023, then touring to Royal Highland Centre, Edinburgh from 12-27 January and Dock X, London from 10 February - 23 March, 2024.

Photo credit: Matt Humphrey

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