Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2005

Macbeth - The Hour
C, Edinburgh Festival Fringe

Martha Williams
posted 27 August 2005

Macbeth - The Hour is, as the title suggest, a production of Macbeth that lasts just 60 minutes instead of the traditional 3 hours or so. Cambridge University's Amateur Dramatic Club's production though, 'is not Shakespeare's Macbeth but our own company's version of the story, based on Shakespeare's play,' writes director Sam Yates in the programme notes. She goes on to say - in a slightly complicated way - that their shortened version was done to convey the essence of the play and to offer a clear and effective retelling of the tragedy of Macbeth. In the performance I saw, the cast certainly got across the essence, but with a few hiccups along the way.

In the opening scene, the three witches - one dressed confusingly like Lady Macbeth, I was soon to discover; and another wrapped in bandages like a mummy (a strange and random outfit choice) recited the original lines while performing some very crude movements. The idea of presenting the witches as lesbians seemed an interesting one compared to other productions I have seen, and certainly made the first scene stand out a bit more.

Unfortunately, I found it hard to understand what was being said because they were speaking so fast (presumably trying to get as many words as possible into the shortened timescale). Relief came in the from of Macbeth and Banquo (Benjamin Deery and Thomas Eccleshare) who both spoke slowly and clearly and were very, very good actors… especially Deery.

Long wooden planks are used as the only scenery, which were simple but effective, except when they were used as walls and the audience could see people trying to hide behind them. Halfway through the performance there was a power cut and the room was thrown into complete darkness. But I was impressed to see (or hear, as I couldn't see anything) that the actors kept on going without any panic in their voices, until someone from the production team stopped the play until the lights came back on. This feeling of 'the show must go on' shown by the actors was very professional.

Banquo's killing is shown as a series of stills (blacking out the stage and bringing the lights up on different moment in the murder) to save time and make the play shorter. This is quick and snappy but it is still obvious what is happening even with such a large chunk of spoken words cut out. To show the killing of MacDuff's family, however, the company chose a projected pre-recorded black and white film. The wife, killer and child can't really act, and it was a very strange thing to do.

With a few problems sorted out, this production could be an excellent one that would stick in the mind (the death of Macbeth is very well done), as a great production and a good example of what the Fringe and Cambridge University ADC has to offer.