In perfect time for students studying Macbeth for GCSE, a new adaptation is staged at The Quarry Theatre where Leo Owen caught the show

Director Amy Leach’s new adaptation is visually arresting from its opening scene with layered sound, action and lighting collectively acting like an advert for what follows. Characters are cut, as are scenes and sections of dialogue but new lines are added too, including the individual wishes of each warrior going to war before an extremely stylised battle dance begins.

Leach fleshes out Lady Macbeth’s (Jessica Baglow) character, from the outset, depicting her in a more sympathetic light than she’s traditionally presented. Leach puts anxieties about lineage in the forefront of her play as Lady Macbeth’s implied battle with fertility becomes a concrete part of the story, seen in a hard-hitting on-stage miscarriage. However, Leach’s Macbeth (Tachia Newall) is portrayed as more controlling and bitter in earlier scenes, unlike productions more faithful to the original text.

Aiming to be inclusive theatre, Leach’s Macbeth is a true onslaught to the senses. With a company Audio Description Consultant, this Macbeth is accessible for blind audience members, boasting a complete soundscape and integrated audio description. Two cast members are deaf and Macduff (Adam Bassett) communicates in British Sign Language, with Lennox (Tom Dawze) acting as interpreter. Sometimes other cast repeat or question lines to make reactions clear which occasionally detracts from the drama or feels rather laboured. That said, Macduff’s discovery of his family’s assassination is made all the more tragic through his reactions being echoed by other characters.

Hayley Grindle’s sparse set design is immediately striking with a huge wooden central drawbridge and surrounding lighting rigs representing the forest. Her drawbridge rises and lowers to create multiple spaces and power levels for characters. An earthy floor emulates the landscape of the Pennines and the Yorkshire Moors that inspired Leach’s suitably bleak adaptation and perfectly captures the remote landscapes of Shakespeare’s Scottish tragedy. A small pool of water is used as a cauldron, sink and general water source. Grindle introduces little else throughout the production with the audience left to imagine a banquet table for the infamous Banquo’s (Gabriel Paul) ghost scene.

With all Covid restrictions lifted and almost a return to normality, The Quarry Theatre is packed out with school parties. Leach’s Macbeth certainly makes Shakespeare accessible to all and although liberal changes have been made, it stays true to the basic plot and themes. Some directional choices are dubious with audience members audibly laughing (perhaps those in school groups?) and the witches almost over-acting, making them both eerie and conspicuous caricatures. The second half is more engaging but the play’s close feels rushed, anti-climactic and a tad cheesy. Chris Davey’s lighting should be commended as should Grindle’s set and an otherwise strong cast. Less successful than Leach’s 2019 Hamlet, this reimagining of Macbeth is certainly bold and likely to divide audiences.

Macbeth shows at Leeds Playhouse February 26th-March 19th before continuing its tour of the UK: