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Macbeth

Macbeth

Written by William Shakespeare
Performed in English
1987–1988

Macbeth is the great tragedy of the imagination. A man and a woman, bound together in ambition, are destroyed in a welter of blood. Cheek by Jowl’s ensemble conjures Shakespeare’s world of witchcraft, ghosts and apparitions in a hallucinatory experience of sound and shadow. Produced by Cheek by Jowl.

“Cheek by Jowl’s storytelling technique is one of the surest in British Theatre today: one scene hooks imperceptibly onto and may even overlap with the next.”

The Observer
Cast and creative team

Cast

NameCharacter
Des McAleerDuncan/Macduff
Timothy WalkerMalcolm
Lloyd OwenDonalbain/1st Murderer
Ged McKennaSergeant/2nd Murderer
Anthony DixonLennox
Liam HalliganRossv
Keith BartlettMacbeth
Raymond SawyerBanquo/Doctor
Duncan DuffAngus
Leslee UdwinLady Macbeth
Simon BoltonFleance/Young Macduff
Anne WhitePorter/Lady Macduff

Creative Team

RoleName
DirectorDeclan Donnellan
DesignerNick Ormerod
Lighting DesignNick Ormerod and Nick Kidd
Fight DirectorJohn Waller
Dialect CoachJoan Washington
Previous performances

Previous Performances

DateLocation
2–19 February 1988London, Lyric Hammersmith, UK
11 November–8 December 1987London, Donmar Warehouse, UK
3–10 November 1987Windsor, Theatre Royal, UK
26–2 October 1987Redhill, Harlequin, UK
19–25 October 1987Brighton, Gardner Centre, UK
12–19 October 1987Bury St Edmunds, Theatre Royal, UK
6–12 October 1987Scunthorpe, Civic Theatre, UK
29 September–3 October 1987Wakefie, Theatre Royal, UK
21–27 September 1987Cambridge, Cambridge Arts Theatre, UK
16 September–1 October 1987York, Theatre Royal, UK
MoreSee also – Cheek by Jowl’s 2009–2011 production of Macbeth
Awards and reviews

Awards

Olivier Award – Director of the Year

1987 – For The Cid, Twelfth Night and Macbeth at the Donmar Warehouse

Reviews

“Declan Donnellan’s dark, spare and forceful production of Macbeth for Cheek by Jowl is technically the most sophisticated in the company’s short history…Cheek by Jowl’s storytelling technique is one of the surest in British Theatre today: one scene hooks imperceptibly onto and may even overlap with the next…Vivid.”

The Observer
Production photo
Photograph: Robert Workman
Production photo
Photograph: Robert Workman

“Dark, spare and forceful”

The Observer

What’s done cannot be undone

Act V, Scene i

Who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him?

Act V, Scene i

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