Shakespeare’s Macbeth-Monaghan Garage Theatre-October 2011 Icarus Theatre produced an interesting if not slightly disappointing version of Shakespeare’s Macbeth, with plenty of action through the sword, axe, spear and fist fights. Although energetic and sometimes frantic, I personally thought that the multiple characters changing from one to the other was a bit distracting and confusing at some points as the story progressed.
The staging was subtle and effective with a good use of lighting. In particular I thought the changing images of the moon as the story progressed was interesting as it highlighted serious points of the play like such as desire, death and destruction of Banquo.
I thought the Macbeth character was the stand out of the performance, with his booming voice and scary and psychotic persona, as his character descended into madness.
This was an interesting shortened version, with lots of character changes, which as I previously stated before, I thought was a bit confusing, but overall it was an enjoyable performance, and worth going to see. Jason Todd P11
Bulletproof-Replay Productions Replay Productions brought this play highlighting the serious issues of mental health in teenagers to De La Salle. The play focused on depression, ADHD and suicide to mention but a few. The pupils watched the show, which lasted half an hour and then took part in a workshop which also lasted half an hour which tackled the themes covered in a stimulating and interactive way.
Someone Who’ll Watch Over Me Have you heard the one about the Englishman, the Irishman and the American? It may sound funny but this comic combination is no joke when they are slowly going mad in a bare cell.
In the late 1980s and early 1990s the Lebanon was a dangerous place for Westerners. A number such as Brian Keenan, John McCarthy, Terry Waite and Charles Glass hit the news headlines with a vengeance as they were held hostage by the Hezbollah, in some cases for years.
Frank McGuinness has taken this story and woven it into a magical three-hander production on the survival of the human spirit. He also manages to speak volumes about national stereotypes and to paint detailed pictures of the lives of his protagonists.