Le Figaro, France
by Armelle Héliot, 2 February 2010

A darkly splendid Macbeth

Declan Donnellan presents Macbeth in the original language and in a highly original production.

With the help of elucidating surtitles, one of the great pleasures for the theatregoer is to see a play performed in its original language. The language of drama has its own poetry, its own music and there are those who never miss the chance to hear Chekhov in Russian or Shakespeare in English. Declan Donnellan is a regular at Les Gémeaux, in Sceaux (20 minutes by metro from the centre of Paris). He is an inspired artist and he runs a highly disciplined company. In Françoise Letellier's marvellous space at Les Gémeaux, Cymbeline was staged in 2007 and Troilus and Cressida in 2008, fabulous productions, intoxicating, inventive and unforgettable, in which the discipline of the actors was as impressive as the audacity and depth of their performances.

Declan Donnellan works equally well with French actors (Le Cid, Andromaque) and Russian (Boris Godounov for example). For Macbeth, he has brought together twelve magnificent British actors, who all share the same feeling for language, the same physical commitment, and the same finely honed sense of space, that reminds us what theatre is ...

What interests Declan Donnellan is not the obvious dreadfulness of the Macbeths' crime. That is for the tabloids! What fascinates him is how the venomous nature of their actions poisons them little by little, and the way in which Shakespeare makes us understand the horror of their dawning realisation.

In Nick Ormerod's very open set, which is beautiful in its simplicity, Donnellan arranges the tragedy in movements, like a piece of music. It is dazzling, and every performance is intelligent and subtle. The prize must go to the women: Anastasia Hille is a fabulous Lady Macbeth, and Kelly Hotten a darkly humorous porter from hell -even in Macbeth there are comic moments... And there is magic, even here when the witches are invisible! Will Keen is excellent in the title role, David Caves as Macduff. There is not a weak link in the ensemble.