THEATRE VISITS
Our GCSE and A Level Drama pupils enjoyed their first theatre trip to see a re-imagined Our Country’s Good for the 21st century.It was a really layered production with much to unpick. Pupils considered the cultural relevance of a work set in the 1700s, written in the '80s and now playing in 2024, and seeing how times have changed… or have they?
This well-known play opens with eerie whispers in your ear, almost tricking you into thinking that you are there with Macbeth on the stage only 20 metres away. The use of 3D headphones for the audience to hear every whisper and breath or the draw of a dagger by Macbeth to kill Malcom was extremely effective. This was the second time in less than a month this piece is brought to life on this London stage. Brought to the stage with not much else I must add; the show has followed the same modern style as many others, leaving out the dimension of props, sets and costumes.
The use of 3D headphones for the audience to hear every whisper and breath or the draw of a dagger by Macbeth to kill Malcom was extremely effective.
Although there is no interval in this two-hour performance, you do receive a brief and perfectly executed comic relief interlude as the fourth wall is broken by Jatinder Singh Randhawa as he transports you back into the 21st century with some fruity language and precarious jokes. After this, you are swiftly transported back into the dark and gloom of Macbeth’s gradual deterioration, aided by the three wayward sisters which are not depicted as characters on stage, but illustrated as only whispers and spirits that haunt Macbeth all through your headphones, sometimes you could feel that they were there amongst the eerie smoke and vapour enveloping the stage.
Alex, Fourth Form
