BRILLIANTLY STAGED

Gregory Doran’s 1999 fast paced production was generally thought to be the best staged since Trevor Nunn's Macbeth in 1976, which also had no interval. Staging it in the 400-seater Swan Theatre gave the discovery process more scope: "its naturally stripped-back look allows the language to create the world and gives the audience the creepy sense of being enfolded in the Macbeth household.” Gregory Doran interview with Paul Taylor, The Independent, 10 November 1999.

COMPELLING COUPLE

Antony Sher and Harriet Walter were compelling as the central couple whose marital and psychological disintegration propelled the tragedy.

ADAPTING MACBETH

In an interview for the film Gregory Doran explained the rationale behind the adaptation: “Macbeth is, in many ways, the most filmic of Shakespeare’s plays with its short, quick-fire scenes and its hurtling, dynamic momentum. In the film I tried to capture its raw energy and dangerous intimacy.”

FILM CLIP

See Antony Sher performing the Act 5 Scene 5 speech “Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow”  (Illuminations Media Ltd). The Macbeth 2001 DVD is available from our shop.

In the gallery below, you can explore more images from the Macbeth film as well as key extracts from the script.