Macbeth comes to Clashmore

A new production of Macbeth is coming to the Carnegie Hall, Clashmore, on Tuesday, July 19, which will feature the audience as guests at a banquet.

The play is set around a dinner table and all the action takes place in one room.

James Mackenzie, better known as Raven on the CBBC television programme, will be "flying" into Clashmore to play the classic Scottish anti-hero in Shakespeare’s play.

For James it is a welcome opportunity to return to Sutherland and he is thoroughly looking forward to bringing the play to the Carnegie Hall.

"The Carnegie Hall will be only the second night of the tour but it is such an atmospheric place. I think it will be the perfect setting for this particular production. The banquet, with the audience as guests, is going to be the centrepiece of the whole evening.

"We have one long table which will run the length of the hall, with a specially designed chandelier and glass slaver. It is going to look amazing in this setting," said James.

The glass chandelier and glass salver have been specially made for the production by Patricia Niemann, a glass artist and goldsmith who is based at North Shore Pottery in Lybster. Patricia has been working closely with the producer and director on the whole look of this concise and imaginative new production.

"It has been really exciting to work with these people in theatre. I have enjoyed every minute of it and have new challenges working in this way. My work is inherently dramatic and this kind of opportunity to work with live performance has been fantastic for me," said Patricia.

The cast also includes Helen Mackay from Thurso as Lady Macbeth. Helen is very familiar to audiences in the North, having been a stalwart of the Thurso Players before heading to Glasgow to train at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.

Open Book, the company touring Macbeth, is based in Gairloch in Wester Ross.

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