The Legendary Bard For A New Generation: Reviewing 'Playing Shakespeare's Macbeth' at the Globe

"Fair is foul and foul is fair

Hover through the fog and filthy air…"

As the famous lines echoed through the hallowed hollow of Shakespeare’s Globe, a chorus of not three but over a hundred voices filtered up through the chilly Thames air, followed immediately by peals of juvenile laughter. From my cushioned seat in the Middle Gallery, I spectated in a state of mild amusement, alternating my eyeline between the three witches cartwheeling onstage and the excited audience of secondary school students below. This pretty much sums up how the next 90 minutes progressed, such that by the end, I wasn’t sure if I was more entertained by the actors or the teenage audience standing before them. 

Playing Shakespeare’s production of Macbeth is evidently staged with young people in mind. From the very beginning of the show, it is packed solidly with dynamic action, fight choreography, acrobatics, and fake blood – all ingredients to make Shakespeare as visual of a spectacle as it possibly could be. Set within a nondescript army setting, it features our titular character as a soldier and Lady Macbeth as a medical officer, surrounded by other characters in similar military-esque positions. Opening with three civilians who are mistakenly pursued by soldiers, gunned down, and subsequently return as the Witches post-death, this production introduces the themes of murder and revenge using a context sadly familiar to secondary school audiences within the volatile world they are growing up in today. Elements of immersion are deployed strategically throughout the production to maintain their interest, such as entrances and exits through The Yard, which make viewers feel like they are part of the action. 

The company of Playing Shakespeare: Macbeth. Photo Credit: Tristram Kenton

The text itself was similarly abridged to cater to a Gen Alpha audience – lines were made culturally relevant with snippets of 21st-century lingo directed almost exclusively to the students in the audience. Though, as a Gen Z-er myself, I must admit that parts of the adaptation seemed almost too ‘millennial’ in humour and made me cringe a little. Nonetheless, these edits seemed generally positively received by the Gen Alpha audience, and featured during moments of cheeky audience interaction. As a production, it was not particularly mind-blowing nor revolutionary in direction or creative vision; neither were its performances Olivier-winning. However, this would hardly have been the point of a Playing Shakespeare production, which aims primarily to engage young audiences. Considering how it was the first time I myself understood the plot of Macbeth in its entirety (without having read the text closely beforehand), I do believe it managed to increase the accessibility of Shakespeare overall. 

That being said, I delighted mostly in watching the reactions of the students standing in The Yard. Their excitement – whether it stemmed from being in a theatre, or simply being out with their friends beyond the boundaries of school – was palpable, and their sheer enthusiasm was a joy to witness. While the occasional group scattered around the fringes of the audience was still more interested in chatting with each other than watching the play, the majority of the students were locked into the action onstage. For a group of (initially) bored and rowdy teenagers, they were much more invested than I expected, ‘aww’-ing at Macbeth and his wife’s embrace, reaching out to shake their hands after they had been crowned royalty, and cheering at their deaths. Therefore, in terms of being maximally engaging to a young audience crowd who probably has (a) short attention spans, (b) smartphones within arm’s reach, and (c) minimal interest in Shakespeare, I believe it succeeded. In that space, amidst the violence and murder, the sounds of joy, enrapturement, and youth rang bright as a bell. 

The company of Playing Shakespeare: Macbeth. Photo Credit: Tristram Kenton

I particularly enjoy theatre for education and young people, because its energy is fundamentally different from that of the typical middle-aged bourgeoisie audience. Even before the performance began, the atmosphere was electric. A sense of excitement and bated breath hung in the air, and the roar of a hundred animated voices rushed through the corridors and main house. It reminded me of myself ten years ago, so filled with wonder at just being in a space so profoundly sacred – except that I never had the opportunity to attend such programmes growing up. 

In the freezing February air, I felt the magic of live theatre as it coursed through a theatre with 425 years of history, and was profoundly warmed by the realisation that some of the students could be discovering their life’s passion at that very moment. Don’t get me wrong, most would probably walk away with just another happy memory made alongside their schoolmates. But perhaps, one or two would have had the course of their lives fundamentally altered, inspired to pursue a career in the arts and keep this cycle alive for many generations to come. 

Playing Shakespeare with Deutsche Bank: Macbeth plays at the Globe Theatre until 20 April.