Focus Birmingham

For some, William Shakespeare’s so-called ‘Scottish Play’ has a reputation as a bringer of bad luck, but the Royal Shakespeare Company nevertheless chose Macbeth as its first production, in the new rebuilt theatre in Stratford and its opening production of the its 50th anniversary season.

Very often the RSC provides 2 audio- described performances of each play, one normally a matinee and the other in the evening, and I attended the 7.15 pm performance on Friday 24 June, preceded by the touch tour a couple of hours earlier. Time pressures sometimes make it difficult for visually impaired patrons and their companions to get to the theatre in time to take advantage of the chance to explore both set and costumes. If at all possible I would strongly recommend booking a place on these touch tours when purchasing tickets, as, for me at least, they help to bring alive the details contained in the comprehensive introductory notes written and read by the audio-describers available online, or with a bit of notice, on CD by request. This once more proved true, when - accompanied by audio-describers Carolyn Smith and Mary Plackett, and a couple of theatre staff – visually impaired patrons were escorted onto the badly scuffed woodblock floor of the thrust stage, which during the performance was surrounded, on 3 sides by the audience. We were able to inspect close up the empty interior of a half ruined church with 2 tall windows on the back wall standing open to the sky, under which ran a gallery with a twisted and, in parts missing, railing. Thanks to the notes, we were aware that the damage was as a result of desecration, and not decay. During the first half of the play this ruined church remained as the backdrop - an image of a fractured society but, again thanks to the notes (reprised ‘live’ in their entirety 15 minutes before curtain-up, and with a brief scene setter before the start of the second half) we learnt that order was restored and oak panelling put in place, covering the lower walls to suggest the Great Hall of a Jacobean castle. Like the set, the props and costumes were typical of the period in which the play was written (early 17th century). Women’s dresses were floor length and full skirted with matching detachable, long-sleeved bodices, and the men were clad in knee-length breeches worn with boots. During the unhurried touch tour the Company’s Wardrobe Mistress was on hand to describe some of these costumes which were in generally sombre colours of blacks, greys and brown, and those who wished were encouraged to literally get a feel of these, in some cases, surprisingly heavy, garments.

Even though I had seen the play performed in the past, it was helpful to be reminded of the story, courtesy of a short synopsis at the end of the recorded pre-show notes, and interesting to hear of some of the techniques introduced by the director, Michael Boyd. For example, in the second half, a broad oak door matching the panelling replaced the previous west door of the ruined church, and the notes made us aware of the fact that this door acted as a portal to the next world, through which Seyton – the actor combining the roles of Macbeth’s officer and the porter, with this more sinister one – ushered away the ghosts of the departed. Another, in my view, inspired innovation, clarified by the notes, were a girl and 2 boys in the key roles of the prophetic witches who inflamed Macbeth’s ambition with all its tragic consequences, and these ghostly children with their haunting laughter and weird dolls, reappeared towards the end of the play, as the ill-fated offspring of Lord and Lady Macduff. The ‘live’ audio-description was once again skilfully timed and discreetly delivered, and ever helpful reminders of who was speaking when, were subtly placed - as was the warning of a gunpowder explosion.

The next RSC audio described performance will be the matinee of Midsummer Night’s Dream on Saturday 17 September and information on concessionary tickets, the touch tour and how to book headsets can be obtained from the box office on 0844 800 1110.