Kate is a massive Shakespeare fan and I missed out on getting tickets earlier on in the Summer for Comedy of Errors I was pleased to find that Macbeth was being put on in Heaton Park. I was a little nervous beforehand, Macbeth isn’t one that I’m familiar with – I had a vague idea of it in my head, but I’d never seen it or read it.
I also was nervous about the blurb on the ticket website:
IMPORTANT INFORMATION
Suitable for 8 years and above.
Prompt 7.30 pm start.
Rain does NOT stop play, so no refunds.
Wear suitable footwear (you will walk approximately 1/2 mile during the promenade production) and clothing, bring something light and portable to sit on, and a torch and insect repellant would also be useful (just in case!)
What were we letting ourselves in for? So we packed waterproofs, our camping stools, hats and a torch into a bag and set out for Heaton Park, feeling a little odd. Fortunately when we got there we found everybody was as prepared as us, in fact some even more so with flasks of coffee and picnic snacks.
I found the procession format a little annoying at first, I was thinking it was disruptive and that we were spending more time walking (or scrambling) from scene to scene than watching them. But after a while it settled into a rhythm and I was starting to be enthralled by the story.
They had mixed it up by using a part Zimbabwean cast and drawing the comparison of Macbeth to Mugabe, which set against the Wooded areas of the park and ending in a spectacular scene in front of the highest point in Manchester at the Temple.
