Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2005

Macbeth
Assembly Rooms, Edinburgh Festival Fringe

Dolan Cummings
posted 27 August 2005

The esteemed Theatre Babel's production of Macbeth is peculiarly unsatisfying and often plain irritating. The disappointment begins with the production's overbearing soundtrack: spooky noises worthy of Scooby Doo establish a rather naff atmosphere from the beginning and often threaten to drown out the actors' words.

The irritation is compounded by the set, which is mostly sparse except for dozens of swords hanging from the rigging to be raised and lowered to no apparent end. Having splashed out on swords and audio gear, Babel apparently felt the need to economise on witches: only one is to be had, and she has to double up in other roles. The swords seem to have come with a job lot of theatrical blood, however, which is lavished on Macbeth's victims. Banquo's ghost is joined by Duncan's zombie, so that the play often resembles The Night of the Living Dead.

There is nothing particularly wrong with any of the performances, but undead apart, there is no particular life to this Macbeth.