Whether they're muttering fey curses, or throwing newts' eyes and dogs' tongues into a cauldron, the witches are the most difficult, and potentially the most ludicrous, aspect of any production of Macbeth. Yet in the Arcola Theatre's version of this problematic work, they prove a malevolent, sinister triumph, evoking both the solemnity and the heart-thumping terror of those who truly believe themselves in league with the devil.
Their scenes provide potent interludes to an evening haunted by an atmosphere of paranoid hysteria, which taps into 21st century fears as effectively as it catered to the superstitious whims of James I. Directors Jack Shepherd and Mehmet Ergen have converted the Arcola into a carefully nuanced chamber of horrors, where the cavernous design, dramatically varied lighting and rumbling soundtrack all provide a fertile backdrop for the nightmares - real and imagined - that erupt from Macbeth's "heat-oppressed brain".
Jack Shepherd's hawk-like profile and anguished gaze transform him into a mesmerising Macbeth, whose complex, contradictory character allows him to bellow with authority one moment and melt under his wife's influence the next, like a love-lorn lamb to the slaughter. His descent into breakdown is well complemented by Amanda Boxer as Lady Macbeth, whose low, charismatic voice resonates with carefully honed cruelty, and who makes it clear that although she has asked the spirits to "unsex me here", she is not beyond using some devilish seduction techniques.
There are some flaws to the evening, and these emerge in several disappointingly weak performances from the supporting cast. As Malcolm especially, Matthew Coombes shows little spark for a man who is rallying English troops to seize his crown from a traitor.
But for sheer ice-down-the-spine atmosphere, this production of Macbeth is a must.
Macbeth
