Macbeth by Blue Apple Theatre Company.

Macbeth aka The Scottish Play has been performed and reproduced over and over again since 1006. However, in true Blue Apple Theatre style, their version has taken an insightful nontraditional format. Blending the surreal and absurd to create an extremely thought-provoking and engaging production.

Sam Dace delivers a strong performance in the role of the highly esteemed Professor Stratford Williams, whose speciality is Shakespeare. While travelling to an awards event he is involved in a life-threatening car accident, ending up in the ICU department of the hospital instead of the awards event.

Tom Hatchett in the role of Banquo alongside Macduff (James Benfield) deliver strong portrayals of these two well know characters. Their costumes by Polly Perry added a finishing touch of the refinery to their roles.

Delivering a performance where you drift between subconsciousness and real-time is a challenge for any cast. Yet these actors take it all in their stride and made it look effortless.

I was extremely impressed with the fully subtitled performance by Django Pinter. By chance it was my daughter’s first time seeing Blue Apple on stage, she’s been partially deaf since birth and struggles at times to hear in Theatres. She has said “it was nice to be able to completely follow what was being said” and for once felt included as part of the audience. This is the way forward for future performances.

Dervla Kirwan added a special guest voice performance as the Professor’s ex-wife, adding another dimension to his personal life and explains from her perspective why his marriage and family life had irretrievably fallen apart.

As with all Blue Apple Theatre performances prompts can be heard from the wings by Director Richard Conlon. These never cause a major problem and you watch as the cast member is concentrating while working through their lines and rejoins the script without any “drama” or panic. The entire cast are amazing professionals through and through. The support and kindness that the actor’s display is heart warming. It is one of the many reasons I actively support them all.

Please use the link below to find out more about these incredible actors and the work that Blue Apple undertake throughout the year. At the moment they are advertising for regular monthly donors, if this is something you might be interested in doing they would really appreciate the support.