Macbeth ( NT 2018)

So, I just came back from the NTLive Broadcast of this... I didn't think it was as bad as it is made out to be by a lot of people but, nevertheless, it was pretty bad. I mean, whatever they were trying to do with it, it did not work, and there are so many things I have problems with. Anne Marie Duff was brilliant but not even her talent could save the mess this play was...

Oh no, I hadn't realised Trevor Fox was the Porter, I'm not *exactly* a fan of either. Thanks for the warning I guess!

I agree with most on this list (especially MacDuff's god-awful acting and the one of the witches) but I actually thought Anne Marie Duff did a decent job (considering the circumstances) but I see where you're coming from.

The cardboard box... I have no idea what that was meant to do but it made my friend and me burst out laughing which is not something you'd expect from Macbeth, really. Also the techno dance party? Ridiculous. The whole soundtrack was terrible, in my opinion. I reckon they were trying to imitate the music from the Macbeth film with Michael Fassbender (which has an amazing soundtrack) and just sort of ended up with a bad version of that.

The second act wasn't too bad (my friend liked it a lot more than the first one, I thought it was just as bad). It was, however, a lot shorter - still felt pretty long, though. For me, the second half just highlighted all the things it did wrong. And here's my hot take: Rufus Norris came up with this idea to set Macbeth in a post-Civil War world and then did not think it through. There are so many things that do not make sense (and yes, I'm pedantic and I know that but the first rule of any creative world-building is that you have to be consistent within the rules of the world). So Rufus said that this is basically a vision of our future after a Civil War in which government disintegrates, so do armies, private militia flourish. Okay, got that. So... why does England have a functioning army? Their army generals all walk around in proper army gear (with knifes, of course... by the way, in this future of ours - what happens to guns?) while the Scottish have only their cardboard armour held together by duct tape. I know that this is obviously because they come with a proper army in the text but if we're to believe this is a future version of Britain now (which Rufus went on and on about) then I find this very problematic (especially looking at the whole coloniser/colonised background). So yeah, spent most of the second act thinking about that and picking holes into the consistency. 

The only thing I could think of (and I'm in my twenties, so maybe closer to a Glasto raver type than Rufus Norris) was that maybe it's a cringey nod to "big fish little fish cardboard box"?

Was hilarious though, it set off the girls sat next to me and their giggles were quite cheering.

Nice to see that the electricity still worked for the stereo, Macbeth's direct debit to Scottish Power still stands then. Shame he forgot to pay the bills for the theatre at large, though (or was it a warning against the EU lighting regulations? Now THAT'S haunting! )

Hi, ff, welcome to the Board if no one has said it before. Your point about the electricity is a good one. We shouldn’t be thinking of things like that when we watch a show. It should all 'work' when we are seeing it. So null points for this one. I was questioning every set decision and every directorial decision the whole way through.

Oh God. I'm going to see it tomorrow... On one hand I feel like giving it a miss but on the other I'm weirdly excited to see if it's really that bad (that's called masochism, I believe).

I reckon it's his stockpile from before they changed the recipe. He took that very seriously.

What is odd is that earlier in the year the RSC Titus Andronicus also appeared wearing a cardboard box (in the Revenge scene) which I took to be a vague - albeit puzzling- indication that he had gone mad. But yes, maybe there’s some specific reference known only by middle-aged directors we’re missing.

Have to admit didn't know what I expect for my cardboard box question but it wasn't that. Did it get a mention in the cast list?

While I had put the Fleance box business down to some random rehearsal room discovery, I am, after the above discussion, beginning to see it for its full brilliance.

Macbeth wants to be king.

Banquo and his son Fleance pose a threat to Macbeth's kingship.

The king is Duncan.

Duncan is played by the actor Stephen Boxer.

Fleance's donning of the box, which made me think of Spongebob Squarepants, has a different effect on Macbeth.

Macbeth thinks of the King (Box=Boxer).

So subliminally leads Macbeth to hire the Murderers to rid himself of Box Boy.

Quod erat demonstrandum.

Rory Kinnear was out this afternoon.
However, with or without him, it was the most boring "Macbeth" I have ever seen. This play is full of murders, ghosts and there's a moving forest in it. And yet, I almost fell asleep.

O dear, hope he is ok. ( maybe needed a break)