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Macbeth at HOME, preview: Something wicked this way comes

Daniel Jarvis

HOME’s staging of ‘the Scottish play’ promises to be a relentless yet exhilarating ride.

HOME goes in for the heavyweight as it stages its first Shakespeare. Collaborating with the Young Vic and Birmingham Repertory Theatre it presents Macbeth, revisualised as a contemporary, movement-led production. Taking the lead roles are John Heffernan (Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell, RSC’s Oppenheimer) as the Scottish pretender, and the icy Anna Maxwell Martin (Bleak House, And Then There Were None) as the manipulative Lady Macbeth.

How will HOME, host to innovative and original theatre, now tackle the well-trodden repertoire of the Bard?

Led by director Carrie Cracknell and choreographer Lucy Guerin working in partnership, the tour has been praised for its strong visual and physical aesthetic as the choreography intertwines with the prose. In their imagining of the infamous Scottish play the three weird sisters (portrayed by physical performers Ana Beatriz Meireles, Jessie Oshodi and Clemmie Sveaas) play an integral role, contorting and flexing their will over Macbeth’s destiny. The performers are accompanied by a brooding and industrial set design by Lizzie Clachan and a soundtrack from electro-techno savant Clark.

Following from Blanche McIntyre’s 90 minute adaptation of the Greek Classic Oresteia it will be interesting to see how a venue that has worked hard to present itself as host to innovative and original theatre now tackles the well-trodden repertoire of the Bard. Whilst every aspect of the production screams “contemporary” it will have to work hard to balance the aesthetic with the complexity and beauty of the original text. We’re looking forward to tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow (or Tuesday 2 February, when Macbeth opens).

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