Review: Lady Macbeth Uncut, Drayton Arms Theatre

Lady Macbeth Uncut reimagines Shakespeare’s Macbeth with a feminist twist. Inspired by the real-life Lady Macbeth (Gruoch), the play offers a refreshing revision from the viewpoint of Lady Macbeth. This staging interrogates patriarchy, to offer a more sympathetic characterisation of a woman seeking to seize the throne and exert control over her life. 

I enjoyed the way that this adaptation keeps very much to the original script. Instead of fashioning a new narrative or seeking to alter the playtext drastically, this production uses Shakespeare’s language to its advantage. Language is adapted to offer female characters lines typically given to males, and stage directions are reframed to offer a softer, tragic side to Lady Macbeth’s characterisation. A minimalistic set design works wonders for this production, allowing a focus on the actors, and the drama that unfolds. 

The opening scene acts as a prequel to the original action, inviting the audience to understand the conditions that lead to Lady Macbeth’s scheming for the throne. Her tragic backstory reveals the loss of her child, and it becomes evident that she has fallen victim to a patriarchal culture which idealises the role of the woman as a mother and caregiver. The famous ‘unsex me here’ monologue is charged with emotional weight that beckons the audience to sympathy. 

Whilst there are subtle hints to a feminist revision in the first act, it is not until the second act that this is truly realised. Catriona Clancy extraordinarily manifests a Lady Macbeth who is fragile and mentally disturbed, with hallucinations and mental deterioration that display the extent of her downfall. This is not to say that she is portrayed as innocent, but rather that there is an emphasis on the social conditions that lead her to act as she does.

Similarly, the three witches are reenvisioned as Lady Macbeth’s companions. Emmy Happisburgh as Coira/ Lady Macduff is particularly funny, offering comedic relief in a play shadowed with tragedy. Alongside her Sally Sharp as Morag and Maggie Saunders as Eilidh form the trio of women who accompany Lady Macbeth in her plotting, underscoring the importance of female friendship. The play shows how the patriarchy makes them invisible as older women, which in turn enables them to play witches and mischievously taunt Macbeth. 

The male characters are also performed wonderfully. Michael Ohren as Macbeth is mentally fragile. Instead of shunting the blame onto the female characters, this version of Macbeth is less naive and more confident. Male violence becomes central to underpinning power and patriarchy.

This rewriting does require a lot of inference of feminist themes and characterisations. Anyone unfamiliar with the original play may not pick up on how the playtext has been adapted, and characters altered, to suit the feminist recasting of Lady Macbeth’s character. Though Lady Macbeth is notionally the protagonist in this reading, Macbeth still dominates a lot of the play, which results in the feminist aspect feeling slightly underwhelming. 

Nevertheless, the actors are superb and the play flows nicely, keeping the attention of the audience throughout. Lady Macbeth Uncut offers a refreshing adaptation of Shakespeare’s play that entertains, whilst subtly reframing the original narrative.

Adapted by: Catriona Clancy
Directed by: Emma Copland
Produced by: Dr Laura Kressly
Sound design by: Anna Short
Lighting design by: Nell Golledge
Fight and intimacy direction by: Bethan Clark
Set and costume design by: Najia Alavi
Assistant Director: Amelia Calvert

Lady Macbeth Uncut plays at Drayton Arms Theatre until Saturday 26th October. Further information and booking are available here.