Macbeth - William Shakespeare

German A-level students who’ve chosen English as a major subject for their last two years have to read a play by Shakespeare, when we do it they’re 18 years old and capable of understanding and appreciating Shakespeare. They’ve all heard the name Shakespeare and know that the name is famous, but why and what for they rarely know, occasionally someone mentions Romeo and Juliet and Leonardo di Caprio, but that’s all. I rather like this situation because if you don’t know anything about a piece of literature you can find out more easily how it is constructed, if the information necessary to understand it is given clearly and in a ...

Macbeth is not Shakespeare's best work. There appear to be scenes missing and it is his second shortest play, after The Two Gentlemen of Verona. Why then does it seem to capture popular imagination? Why is it the Shakespearean text that more people are familiar with than any other? I would optimistically hope it is more than because it was force-fed us at school. The story focuses on the successful soldier and nobleman, Macbeth, Thane of Glamis, his rise to power and eventual fall. In the beginning, his valor in combat is reported to Duncan, the King of Scotland. Having defeated the rebel Thane of Cawdor, Duncan sends a messenger to give his title to ...

**** This is a review of 'Macbeth' starring Sean Bean and directed by Edward Hall, which is currently showing at the Richmond Theatre and is due to open at the Albery Theatre in the West End in a few weeks time. ***** I don't like this trend of plucking people off the telly/out of the recording studio and sticking them on the stage. An actor who has spent the majority of his working life in front of a camera is unlikely to have developed the vocal power and stage presence necessary to do justice to even a minor Shakespearean part, let alone the principal role. Sean Bean proved this to me recently with his weak, dull and barely audible ...