Friday Headlines
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Big Brum Theatre brings Macbeth to life
16 February 2018
On a dreary Tuesday morning, Years 10 and 11 of Edgbaston High had the opportunity to experience the famous story of Macbeth, live, performed by the Big Brum Theatre company.
It was an intriguing and eye-opening new interpretation of Shakespeare’s classic tale of ambition, murder, and the occult, and it’s safe to say that the performance breathed some life into the students. The atmosphere the company established within the Octagon was dark and eerie; perfect for the events of the play.
The performance was engaging and exciting, and contained many insights into the complicated craft of a live performance. The actors made the performance look smooth and easy as the set changed in front of the students’ eyes without fault. It was especially rewarding to watch the play with such an imaginative interpretation because we are being taught Macbeth for our iGCSE coursework and could easily reference the performance in our essays.
The vastly diverse explication of the characters of the play made the way it was received very different and rather thought-provoking. For example, the portrayal of Banquo’s murderer as a shy yet steely character brought up a whole new side to the grisly matter that was Macbeth’s paranoid action of murdering his friend, making the audience think that on the one hand, the murderer was reluctant, but yet also very willing to complete the task.
The way the story came to life made us, the students, as said by the actress who played Lady Macbeth, realise that these are our stories; they lie within us and resonate within us. It was a great experience to engage with the actors and the play in such an intimate environment, and on behalf of Years 10 and 11, we’d like to thank the BigBrum Theatre Company for coming in and putting on a lovely performance.
