Review of the preview show
of The Macbeth Session

Blood Stains the Firkin Crane
By Tom McCarthy
(Printed in the Cork Evening Echo Friday 21st October 2011)

A fusion of comedy and Hecate proves a successful vehicle for Cyclone Repertory Company's Macbeth at the Firkin Crane.

Commanding the attention of a legion of secondary school students is no laughing matter, but Cyclone achieved exactly that in Macbeth, the newest addition to the Shakespeare Sessions Tour. For many, the preview provided a first encounter with a text they will be shortly forced to become intimately familiar with. If the students of Saint Francis College, Rochestown, were expecting a dreary rendition however, they were to be mistaken.

While the Scottish Play also has much to offer general audiences, this specially crafted version will surely delight teachers by making a difficult text more accessible to young minds. Specific themes are particularly focused on, including manhood, conscience and guilt.

Like the eventual breach of Dunsinane Castle, so too the fourth wall comes tumbling down regularly. The language and key messages are deciphered in the more complex scenes. Periodic “Q & A” sessions that involve the audience and allow the cast to “mingle with society” work splendidly, combined with nifty animations and snippets of the history behind Shakespeare's darkest work.

The plethora of characters portrayed by the four actors is enviable. Innovative additions include the use of a three-sided headpiece to represent the witches. Peadar Donohoe makes a convincing Duncan, but more importantly is the driving force behind audience interaction alongside the versatile Sean McNally (Banquo), who temporarily steals the show via his hilarious take on the Porter scene.

Marcus Bale plays Macbeth admirably, assisted by an impressive Scottish accent, given his Argentinian descent. Marie O’Donovan as his Lady Macbeth stands out, particularly in her individual scenes, the most memorable being the unsettling transition from paranoia to madness. The depiction of the love the would-be regent and his wife initially share is believable, as is the subsequent collapse of their relationship. Their embraces roused catcalls from a crowd that was not expecting such a modern interpretation.

The curse of Macbeth very nearly unravelled proceedings as one of the kilted characters tripped up a stairs. Thankfully, he narrowly avoided a wardrobe malfunction, and it ironically proved to be a useful ice-breaker.

The production’s sobering use of Hecate (voiced by Caroline Hart), and ample, but not excessive, dependence on comedy, also works well. While the latter ensures the audience’s attention is held, Hecate’s menacing voice-overs serve to remind us that evil, power and deception also jostle for position. Her solely auditory role links into the fact that historians believe she was not of the Bard’s pen.

The production will need to overcome two issues, one being the sound levels, which  at times drowned out speech. The pace of transition between certain scenes also needs improvement.

Next stop on the tour is Nenagh for the official opening, with a return to Cork in February. Overall, Cyclone presents a successful retelling that does not lose the overall spirit of the play in its comedic undertones.