The Guildford Shakespeare Company is once again beginning its season with a production in the atmospheric 18th Century Holy Trinity Church in Guildford and this year has chosen to present Shakespeare’s gripping power play Macbeth, the only professional production in the south east before Easter.
The production re-unites director Caroline Devlin (who directed Hamlet in 2011 and Richard III in 2012) with designer Sarah Bacon. Caroline is currently nominated for Best Director in the Off West End Awards for Richard III.
A number of familiar faces are returning to the company for this production. Johanne Murdock, who played Puck in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Queen Elizabeth in Richard III, will be playing Lady Macbeth, joined by Noel White, Ben Ashron, Morgan Philpott and Robert Maskell.
Guildford Shakespeare Company attempts to give audiences a complete experience of Shakespeare where the venue becomes a central figure in the performance, and this production promises to do the same, especially given the play’s themes.
There is also an eclectic events programme running alongside the production:
- Thursday 17 January, 7–9PM: Artistic & Executive Producer Matt Pinches gives a talk on the myths and superstitions which surround this play.
- Friday 25 January, Burns Night at the Royal Oak Trinity Churchyard where the GSC is leading an evening celebrating the Scottish Poet and ‘all things haggis-related’.
- Saturday 9 February, 1PM, before the 2:30 matinée at Holy Trinity, historian and writer Dr Fiona Watson will give a talk about the life of the real King Macbeth who reigned in Scotland from 1040 to 1057. Price £2.
- Thursday 14 February, after the evening performance is a post show Q&A with the cast.
- Tuesday 19 February, 2–4PM, at £18 (includes backstage tour and ticket for evening show) for 12- to 19-year-olds, an afternoon combining drama games and a Shakespearean acting workout with some of the cast from Macbeth.
- Wednesday 20 February 1:30PM, at £4 (St Mary’s Church), Macbeth Part II—The Seed of Banquo, a performed reading of Noah Lukeman’s sequel, made all the more atmospheric in Guildford’s oldest building, dating from the same time as the real events.
For more information, see www.guildford-shakespeare-company.co.uk or call 01483 304384
Macbeth runs from Monday 4 to Saturday 23 February and is produced in association with Guildford’s Yvonne Arnaud Theatre.