17 April 2018. Macbeth at the National Theatre

This production of Macbeth had not received good reviews. The Director, Rufus Norris, was accused of mauling it somewhat. The set was extremely bleak and the witches' rather animal noises at the opening was quite off-putting, I agree. However, overall the acting by Rory Kinnear and Anne-Marie Duff in particular made it a worthwhile evening for me. The problems for me are more with the play itself - particularly Macbeth's indecent haste in doing away with Duncan as well as the rather implausible way in which he murders Duncan's two guards. He and Lady Macbeth appear when Lennox and MacDuff arrive in the morning as if nothing had happened; then somehow he had murdered the guards in a fury at them murdering the King. That aside, I thought Anne-Marie Duff conveyed particularly well the ruthlessness and single-mindedness of Lady Macbeth - though again the play gives no build up to her character before the witches give Macbeth the idea that he will be King.