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I went to the final performance of Macbeth last night and I wanted to make some notes for myself so I would remember some things. I only use this account for lurking but I am making this public in case anyone scouring the David Tennant / Macbeth tags is interested in my musings for some reason.
I had been lucky enough to have seen this production three times already before last night - twice in December and once in January - so I have been able to track its journey and pick out what changes night on night and what doesn't. I have found that fascinating. Any changes were minor and pretty much exclusively found in simply the way a line was spoken. For example, the brilliant Noof Oussellam (Macduff)'s "but I must also feel it as a man" was impassioned and angry the first and last times, but the two times inbetween I found it to be more subtle. More sadness, more despair than anger. I guess it comes down to how the actor is feeling it in that point in time and I think it shows a great understanding of the character that they play them in the moment and don't just mimic themselves night after night.
The other great thing about going multiple times is viewing it from different angles. I saw it from all sides, twice from the stalls and twice from the front row of the circle. Honestly, circle was better, especially for Macbeth's death in the closing moments. You do not get the effect of the blood seeping out from under him from the stalls and I tell you now, that image from above sears itself onto your brain.
All of the actors are incredible and have been from the start, but there were a few times last night where I could feel them step up their game. Like they knew it was the last time they were going to say that line (at least for a while) so they were going to give it their all.
One of those times was Macbeth's "tomorrow and tomorrow" soliloquy which had always been brilliant and very moving, but about which something was a little different last night. The quiet, raw emotion in that speech felt as though it had been ramped up (or down??) a notch and was so palpable that it brought a tear to my eye.
Another moment came from Lady Macbeth's sleepwalking scene. Again, always brilliant and always moving but somehow desperately sadder this time around. I wanted to give that murderous, conniving fiend a big hug.
The Porter:
The porter scene is funny but obviously not as much when you know what's coming. Which is why when somebody in the audience yelled out "who's there?" right before he got a chance to say his "ok seriously do none of you understand the concept of a knock-knock joke?" line last night, it was both a shame and a blessing. I felt a bit bad for the guy!
"Alright, you've seen the show before! That was my favourite-... and it's the final show!"
But what followed was a hilarious bit of improvisation and it changed things up a bit, especially as Laura the sound engineer proceeded to make his job even harder with the timing of the sound effects that followed. It meant I was able to enjoy the porter scene as much as I did the first time, but like I said, I did feel a bit bad that his favourite line got taken away from him! (It wasn't me who called out, by the way.)
David bloody Tennant:
I've not seen much Shakespeare live (I want to remedy that, I have become completely obsessed), but I can believe people when they say David Tennant is arguably the greatest Shakespearean actor of his time. You can tell he feels and understands completely the meaning behind the words he is saying. He's not just reciting, not just reeling it off. The pauses, the intonations, the passion, sadness, grief, guilt behind every line just shows his deep understanding of the character and his innermost thoughts. On that stage, he is Macbeth.
What's more is you can tell he absolutely delights in it. Anybody who knows anything about DT knows he loves Shakespeare and it is glaringly evident when he is out on stage. He puts everything he has into it and it is wonderful to witness.
He is truly an amazing actor and a treasure and I have been so delighted to watch his career somehow continue to hit new highs of late. Everything he touches seems to turn to gold. As many have said before me, this really is David Tennant's world and the rest of us are just living in it.
The bows:
The reception this group of actors received at the end of the performance was phenomenal and no more than they deserved. Everybody on their feet, whooping, cheering. A lot of noise coming from such a small audience. The cast were both playful and tearful. To see some of the actors get a bit emotional was very touching and I hope that was, at least in part, due to the love and admiration pouring out of us and on to that stage.
An aside:
So I turn up to the theatre and head straight for the toilets on the first floor. There is one person waiting outside them because it's full inside so I wait too. Within moments, out pops DT from a set of double doors right in front of me. He quickly checks if there's anyone in the other set of toilets (there is) and disappears back through the doors again. It's fleeting, and the only other person in the queue is facing the other way and doesn't see. I keep quiet, obviously. It's just over half an hour until the performance is due to start. He's not in costume yet and the man just wants to go to the bathroom. My point is, I've now watched him live on stage in a very small theatre for approximately 7 and a half hours and at no point in that time have I actually concluded that he is real, except in those brief four or five seconds outside the toilets of the Donmar Warehouse in Covent Garden, when we're just two people who needed a wee.
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Macbeth
Brido
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"Next to Normal" is getting great reviews at the Donmar Warehouse in London
#DonmarWarehouse #London #NexttoNormal #Reviews #theatre
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July 8, 1986: The Donmar Warehouse in London presents a revival of SBSBS.
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Tonight #DavidTennant plays the first performance of Macbeth @DonmarWarehouse
https://davidtennantontwitter.blogspot.com/2023/12/1208MB.html
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Patrick Gibson hugging Jack Wolfe and hyping him up in his musical "Next to Normal" at Donmar Warehouse Theatre, August 31 2023.
From @/fwilsted and @/paddygibson on his Insta stories:
@/paddy gibson: "Next to Normal @/donmarwarehouse 5 stars. @/jacktwolfe and the whole cast so fucking goooood"
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we were busy pacing through london in circles for hours in order to process hour experience so we haven't shared the excitement yet, but here goes a quick rambling before bed time (after all donmarwarehouse-official correspondents ate due to queue at 2pm again tomorrow and report live from the ground 🫡🫡🫡)
hello??? hello??? I have to say as an ex film student who doesn't actually know a lot and hasn't actually seen a lot of theater I have extensive thoughts on the cinematic style of this production especially from a visual and sound design perspective but those are for later.
right now I can just say that I had a religious experience of sonder about mr tennant during the first few scenes. he sprinted past me less than half a meter away four times. we made an unholy amount of eye contact and one of his monologues had an eyeline basically right next to my face so i felt stared at while my chin was wobbling and i was tearing up. in my section I was person 2 to join in a standing ovation and we successfully pressured two stalls sections entirely into getting their asses off their seats (meanwhile maggie service and rob wilkins were the only people in their section to join in 🥺). the macbeths were so sexy. what the fuck is cush jumbos deal she is so good. i got goosebumps literally so many times. at times i put one of my headphones into a really funky halfway position and I think that was a cool mix of live voices and the very cool things they've done with the audio. the I'm scrambling to fix or at least hide something I can never undo and I'm going mad in the process themes hit me unexpectedly hard. the amount of empathy and emotion pretty much all of the characters evoked in me is staggering.
also you were right queuing is so fun nothing beats the adrenaline rush of getting tickets and nothing beats seeing people ten spots down the queue inside the theatre and just congratulating each other half an hour later.
donmarwarehouse-official correspondent peanut number 2 is signing off for the evening. back to the studio
Really incredible stuff. I felt so similarly about feeling intense emotion and empathy for every character!! ugh thank you for this it really gave me the second-hand high I was craving. Incredible reporting. See you again tomorrow!
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the only easter miracle i need is the resurrection of the donmar warehouse's macbeth @/donmarwarehouse are you listening
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What a blast💥 @donmarwarehouse
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from the new Donmarwarehouse reel
my boim
#sky’s stardust#next to normal#jack wolfe#jack wolfe next to normal#that’s my boy#sab actors#soc actors#jack wolfe 🥰#i love him so much#sooooo much#najsjdjsjdjdjdj#he’s my#wylan van eck#he’s also my bae#i love him
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Ros Watt 🎂
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Richard Armitage tweets (18/05/22):
Can’t wait. 🥂🙌🥂
Been next to you onstage and in the audience on a number of occasions… you are always 🔥 xxx
@MissDumezweni:
You don’t need to have read the first… 💛
@DonmarWarehouse:
👀 Coming up next at the Donmar: @MissDumezweni in A DOLL'S HOUSE, PART 2 by Lucas Hnath, directed by James Macdonald
From 10 June
🎟️ BOOK NOW
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Echo: Theatre-News.com The Donmar Warehouse’s critically acclaimed production of Macbeth with David Tennant and Cush Jumbo transfers to the West End - #DonmarWarehouse @DonmarWarehouse #westendmacbeth @westendmacbeth http://dlvr.it/T5z4Tt
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Theatre-News.com The Donmar Warehouse’s critically acclaimed production of Macbeth with David Tennant and Cush Jumbo transfers to the West End - #DonmarWarehouse @DonmarWarehouse #westendmacbeth @westendmacbeth http://dlvr.it/T5w8cJ
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June 30, 2003: Pacific Overtures opens at the Donmar Warehouse in London.
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This week #DavidTennant plays the final week of performances of Macbeth (54 to 61) @DonmarWarehouse
https://davidtennantontwitter.blogspot.com/2024/02/0205MB.html
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