David Tennant’s Macbeth Is Shakespeare’s Tragedy at Its Most Haunting and Human
(Photo: Marc Brenner)
Live theater is a singular event. Each production is different, and each performance is unique. This energy is a part of the appeal of the experience, but it’s also a fact that live theater is not always the most accessible of hobbies. Thankfully for those who don’t live near New York or London or for whom steadily increasing ticket prices present a significant deterrent, there are more ways than ever to see big, buzzy productions without having to cross an ocean or go into debt. The steadily growing trend of filmed versions of successful theatrical shows being released on the big screen is a gift to anyone who loves great performances and is making more shows accessible than ever before. With the arrival of the blockbuster Donmar Warehouse version of Macbeth in cinemas this February, it feels like the time for this particular format to have its breakout cultural moment may finally be upon us.
Filmed during its initial Donmar run in early 2024, the show was then reprised at a larger West End theater last fall. Macbeth’s sold-out run went on to break multiple box office records and become the hottest ticket in town. Its cinema release will give countless theater lovers around the world a chance to see the production for themselves, but make no mistake—this is still a work conceptualized for the stage, and much of its power comes from the simplicity of its visual presentation, which centers the actors above all. It’s a production tailor-made for a film release, and the end result is one of the best takes on the Scottish play in recent memory.
A-listers David Tennant and Cush Jumbo star as the play’s central couple, and its take on Shakespeare’s classic is a remarkably emotional and atmospheric one. Tennant’s involvement, of course, is this Macbeth’s biggest draw, the sort of casting choice that inevitably entices those who aren’t normally Shakespeare enthusiasts to the theater just for the opportunity to see the beloved former Doctor Who star perform. Director Max Webster is clearly aware of this fact and purposefully crafts a take on the Scottish play that’s incredibly accessible from start to finish, but still full of enough sharp-edged imagination to satisfy the purists in the crowd.
Trimmed down to just under two hours, with a minimalist set, monochrome costuming, and a soundtrack infused with Scottish folk music provided by a Greek chorus-esque band of players onstage, this is a Macbeth that abandons the grandiose for the immediate. Jettisoning the overtly supernatural for internalized psychological horror, emotional trauma, and a constant sense of loss, it’s a deeply human take on the bloodiest of the Bard’s great tragedies. Its unique sound design (more on that in a second) lends itself to a feeling of incredible intimacy, putting its audience inside the action and forcing them to question many of their preconceived notions about the story and its characters.
Here, the witches are never physically seen, and the audience is left to decide for themselves how much of Macbeth’s actions are influenced by supernatural forces or driven by steadily increasing madness. Unseen hallucinations are suggested throughout, and the lurking figures behind the glass partition that forms the back of the stage add a haunting physical frame, whether they’re visions, ghosts, victims, or bystanders. This is also a production that is littered with children, both present and absent, living and dead. Shakespeare scholars have long debated the so-called missing child theory surrounding the play, arguing about whether the Macbeths lost a child—most likely a son—prior to the events of the story. Shakespeare’s text is weirdly contradictory on this subject, but Webster’s adaptation is most assuredly not, and in that clarity of purpose finds an emotional depth many productions lack.
Ghostly childlike laughter and looming child-sized figures haunt a Macbeth who is obsessed with his own legacy, is deeply and particularly threatened by the promise of Banquo’s heirs, and is himself a child killer several times over. There’s an air of PTSD about this interpretation of the character that has nothing to do with his extensive military career, and although his “vaunting ambition” remains undaunted throughout, it’s quietly framed around an unspoken but ever-present absence.
The most notable shift from the stage version is in the production’s sound design. In the theater, audience members were given headphones that pumped spoken lines and musical cues directly into attendees’ ears, giving the softest of whispers and creepiest of line readings an intimacy and impact that the cinema version can’t really match. Given that it would be almost impossible to recreate this effect in a multiplex, the film splits the difference, shifting between wider, more traditional audio and determined proximity.
Even without the headphones putting voices inside your head, this is still a production that prioritizes immediacy, with close-ups that often feel as though they’re breaking the fourth wall and inviting audience members into a role that treads the line between co-conspirator and conscience. It helps that Tennant delivers an astonishing amount of his lines in a purposefully soft-spoken and non-theatrical manner. There’s no playing to the proverbial back of the house here—many of Macbeth’s monologues are little more than whispers, and the close-in angles captured by the camera illustrate how much of his performance is grounded in small physical moments, from loaded glances across the stage to subtle shifts in expression or body language.
There are few actors working today who can match Tennant’s gift for making iambic pentameter sound quite so conversational and approachable, and he’s at the top of his game here. His Macbeth teems with a mix of manic energy, palpable longing, and a snide sort of bitchiness that lands as a welcome surprise in a world where the character is too often portrayed as a helpless chump under the thumb of his scheming wife. This Macbeth is fully the architect of his own destruction, and as the story reaches its dramatic climax, Tennant plays him with a delightful YOLO flair that hints that maybe he knows he’s already lost everything that matters anyway. (It’s a truly phenomenal performance, is what I’m saying.)
Jumbo’s cool, precise Lady Macbeth has steel enough to match her husband, and she and Tennant work exceptionally well as a duo, using little more than shared glances and physical proximity to suggest a partnership that has been forged through shared adversity and trauma. They seem like equals throughout, both in sadness and in ambition, and although both Macbeths commit monstrous deeds, neither fully loses their humanity. And it’s this key point that makes this particular production stand out from so many that have preceded it, something the cinematic version targets like a laser to extremely powerful effect.
The Donmar Warehouse production of Macbeth will premiere in theaters around the globe beginning Wednesday, February 5.
Lacy Baugher Milas is the Books Editor at Paste Magazine, but loves nerding out about all sorts of pop culture. You can find her on Twitter and Bluesky at @LacyMB
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