![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/macbeth0.jpg\")
Mark Mitchinson as Macbeth Photo Andi Crown<\/p>\nReviewed by Malcolm Calder<\/p>\n
Mark Mitchinson as Macbeth Photo Andi Crown<\/p>\n
Macbeth<\/p>\n
By William Shakespeare<\/p>\n
Auckland Theatre Company<\/p>\n
Director Benjamin Kilby Henson<\/p>\n
Set Dan Williams<\/p>\n
Lighting Rachel Marlow & Bradley Gledhill, Filament 11<\/p>\n
Costumes Elizabeth Whiting<\/p>\n
Composer and Sound Design Robin Kelley<\/p>\n
Engine Room Director Sepelini Mua\u2019au<\/p>\n
With Alison Bruce, Keagan Carr Fransch, Travis Graham, Khee Choy, Mark Mitchinson, Maaka Pohatu, Robert Pollock, Jeff Szusteman, Amanda Tito, Lauie Tofa, Sara Wiseman and as Coven Lightning Maxwell Andrew, Lucy Goer and Evelyn Towersey<\/p>\n
ASB Waterfront Theatre<\/p>\n
Ends 22 August<\/p>\n
Reviewer Malcolm Calder<\/p>\n
15 May 2026<\/p>\n
Good to see ATC mounting a solid Shakespeare.\u00a0 Albeit one with a modern twist to an age-old tale.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 And good too, to see Benjamin Kilby Henson starting to hit his straps with the company.<\/p>\n
No, the script hasn\u2019t been hijacked and Shakespeare\u2019s themes remain extant.\u00a0 The setting however it something else.\u00a0 More on that later.<\/p>\n
The standout is Mark Mitchinson who gives us a supremely impressive Macbeth.\u00a0 Not only one which provides a title for the play, but a carefully crafted character around which everyone and everything revolves.\u00a0 As it should be.\u00a0 His Macbeth is vocally and emotionally powerful, plumbs enormous depths of physical presence, all the while commanding the stage even when he is not on it.<\/p>\n
Yes, of course he goes mad and is eventually disposed of in the internecine warrior-world of Shakespeare\u2019s Scotland, but I expect Mitchinson\u2019s Macbeth to remain with me for some time.<\/p>\n
Less so his counterpoint \u2013 Sarah Wiseman \u2013 who struggled with the complexity of Lady Macbeth.\u00a0 There were flashes of intensity from her, especially when using her lower register, but inconsistently so. \u00a0\u00a0The play just didn\u2019t have a balance for me.\u00a0 And that was a pity because Lady Macbeth is pivotal and strength is an essential.\u00a0 As a result the drama that unfolds and the 4th and 5th Acts sometimes felt like a different play \u2026 my sinister political drama had somehow become more of a psycho-drama and I felt a tad let down.<\/p>\n
Nonetheless, Mr Kilby Henson used his ensemble well with Jeff Szustemann giving us a very capable Banquo and, despite my initial misgivings, the use of children as the witches worked very well indeed. \u00a0\u00a0Perhaps worthy of mention too was the delightful \u2018cameo\u2019 from Amanda Tito (Porter), breaking briefly through the fourth wall to reach out into the audience.<\/p>\n
Dan Williams\u2019 highly effective post-apocalyptic fantastical engine-room\u2019 and maintained the overall production values and standards now firmly established by ATC.\u00a0 Robyn Kelley\u2019s growly soundscape underpinned all that Shakespeare conjured and Elizabeth Whiting would surely have relished letting her hair down with the costumes.<\/p>\n
So, on balance, this as a more than competent production perhaps worthy of some minor re-casting.\u00a0 However the standout for me remains Mark Mitchison\u2019s Macbeth.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Reviewed by Malcolm Calder Mark Mitchinson as Macbeth Photo Andi Crown Macbeth By William Shakespeare Auckland Theatre Company…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":555526,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[111,43,139,69],"class_list":["post-555525","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/555525","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=555525"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/555525\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/555526"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=555525"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=555525"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=555525"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}