Macbeth

I can't really remember much from English lessons at school. Or at least not much that was English related. I remember being bored by endless poems and annoyed at having to see the 'underlying message' in them. Was it not possible that there was no underlying message and it was just a poem? I remember dreading the moment when you had to read aloud and the trying to stifle the yawns when 23 other girls had to go through the same thing. I remember passed notes, counting down the minutes to lunch, daydreaming about summer holidays and trying to work out if the smile from a boy ten days before meant we were going to get married. 

What I did not experience during these lessons was being transported back in time purely through the medium of words, of being inspired by feelings of passion, jealously, murder, hatred. Or leaving the lessons wanting more. I did, however, experience all of this and more at the cinema the other night. Yes that is right, at the cinema, where the live performance of Macbeth was streamed live from the sold-out show at the Manchester Festival. They were even selling ice cream at the start of the performance! The performance was set in a deconsecrated church and the live audience seated down aisles so that the play was performed down the centre of the church. And boy were those in the front row close to the action as soldiers were impaled, actors sweated and spat and swords banged against  the walls in front of them. There was even rain during the first battle scene. I particularly enjoyed the birds eye camera shots, especially at the beginning and end of the show. 

Image from Macbeth (www.guardian.co.uk)

Amazing, inspiring performances that transported the audience back to Shakespearean times in a heartbeat. We felt every emotion and it left me wanting more.