The 22nd September 2009 the English department invited its students to see the performance of Macbeth, a production of stage director Declan Donnelan, at the theatre in Namur. Here is my review of this play.
Let us start with the costumes. Every character, except one, was dressed in black. It was quite hard to distinguish one from another and so hard to understand who was who. As a Renaissance play, I expected Macbeth to be more colorful and the characters to wear period costumes. This would have made got a better understanding of the importance of each character as well as the play and even encourage spectators to watch it.
Secondly, I would like to talk about the décor. The latter was very rudimentary and dark: only a simple façade of what seemed to be a castle with kind of wooden columns and some stools. Once again, it was difficult to understand the settings and the sequence of events. Furthermore, Macbeth being dark was not enjoyable to look at.
Thirdly, the language of the play should be discussed. It was a formal language full of metaphors and images: the 17th Shakespearean language. It was quite hard to follow the dialogues and the course of the events even with the French supertitles and very soon I was lost. Let us finish by the positive aspect of the play. What was pleasant was that it was performed in English.
As a conclusion, despite a very positive review from journalists, I didn’t like this play because it was too difficult to understand and follow.
Let us start with the costumes. Every character, except one, was dressed in black. It was quite hard to distinguish one from another and so hard to understand who was who. As a Renaissance play, I expected Macbeth to be more colorful and the characters to wear period costumes. This would have made got a better understanding of the importance of each character as well as the play and even encourage spectators to watch it.
Secondly, I would like to talk about the décor. The latter was very rudimentary and dark: only a simple façade of what seemed to be a castle with kind of wooden columns and some stools. Once again, it was difficult to understand the settings and the sequence of events. Furthermore, Macbeth being dark was not enjoyable to look at.
Thirdly, the language of the play should be discussed. It was a formal language full of metaphors and images: the 17th Shakespearean language. It was quite hard to follow the dialogues and the course of the events even with the French supertitles and very soon I was lost. Let us finish by the positive aspect of the play. What was pleasant was that it was performed in English.
As a conclusion, despite a very positive review from journalists, I didn’t like this play because it was too difficult to understand and follow.
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