Macbeth in all its brutality but a cast of just two - in Brighton

The show is presented by Out of Chaos, in partnership with ATG Creative Learning, specifically for schools audiences. It comes with the promise of “highly-skillful physical theatre with powerful text work, vibrant characters and original music” with performances at Theatre Royal Brighton on Tuesday, March 26. There will be a free 30-minute structured Q&A with the company after the performance for anyone who wishes to stay.

Hannah Barrie is precisely one half of the cast: “It is just the two of us. We've got a version of Midsummer which is just the two of us, but I do think that Macbeth is a play that really lends itself to this. You think of all those pairs of characters Lady M and M and Banquo and Macbeth and Macduff and Macbeth and so on. It really works well. We've got rid of a few characters and we've condensed a few characters. Ross now takes the place of a few of the minor characters but we think we've really got it down to the grit and the bones of the story. We've got a rid of the extra but it's still absolutely the true story.

“There is a certain element of making it more affordable if you have a small cast but I do also think that it is a wonderful challenge. Personally I love watching shows that are multi-roling. I enjoy seeing an actor inhabiting different roles and I enjoy the quick shifts and also you've got the ultimate challenge perhaps where you are facing yourself on stage! What are you going to do there! But I just think it's incredibly entertaining as a way of doing it and a really clear way of telling the story. We try to inhabit the characters differently and using slightly different vocal textures and hopefully it makes it really clear what is happening at any point. And I just like the fact that it's a way of telling the story that uses your imagination in a different way and you can really sense the audience engaging with it at different levels.”

As for the original text which isn't being used in this case: “I do think it will always be there but this is just another option. It's just another way of exploring this wonderful story. The next step is perhaps a one-person version!”

Part of the significance of the production is that it's a home-produced production by the Ambassador Theatre Group: “We were talking to the Theatre Royal about how you can bring affordable high-quality theatre to people around the country and one of the ways was to do that was to tour it underneath an ATG show.

“(Except in Brighton) we are touring underneath Pretty Woman. We're using their set and their stage and it means that the amazing massive theatres that we’re going to are not standing empty in the afternoon. And it means that they've got a really good high-quality show plus ATG Creative Learning are offering cheaper tickets to schools. We've played some packed houses. We just didn't know how this was going to work but young people have really got hold of this story in the 85 minutes.”

​