Having not interacted with any of Shakespeare’s plays since school, I was half expecting to go to the opening night of Macbeth at Durham’s Assembly Rooms and be haunted with the same confusion I felt trying to translate his words in a grey classroom back when I was 16. However, as the lights lowered and the play began with the three witches (Elaine MacNicol, Heather Carroll, Alice Faith ) half running half crawling down the aisles either side of me, I began to be pleasantly surprised. For a play where we all know the ending, it was wildly unpredictable, changing from glee to anger to humour within minutes. It can be easy for a play like Macbeth, where characters such as Macbeth (Danny Solomon ) and Lady Macbeth’s (Hannah Ellis Ryan) personas change so quickly, to make it seem rushed, or lazily done but this was not the case with Jake Murray’s production, much to the casts’ merit. Overall, it was a delicious watch of unfolding madness, and an enjoyable reacquaintance to Shakespeare.

Imogen Mole