Brighton Theatre Royal Review: OUT OF CHAOS' 'MACBETH'

Summary

Rating: ★★★★

Running Dates: Monday 19th January 2026 - Tuesday 20th January 2026

Where to see it: Brighton Theatre Royal

Duration: 1 hours 20 minutes incl. interval

Keywords: theatre, Shakespeare

This rendition of Shakespeare’s Macbeth was a two-man show filled with emotion and humour. The play, directed by Mike Tweddle, was performed by Hannah Barrie and Paul O’Mahony at Brighton’s Theatre Royal. 

Macbeth is one of Shakespeare’s shorter plays but it was shortened even further by the director to focus on the key relationship dynamics and dramatic events. The performance was put on by Out of Chaos, a local theatre company based in Hove. Although they have toured across the globe it was nice to see them perform so close to home. 

As an English literature graduate who has studied Shakespeare extensively I was keen to see what this adaptation would be like. I found myself lost at points during this performance, it was hard to follow along with as the actors had to embody so many characters at once. It almost didn’t feel like any Macbeth I had seen previously. The two actors worked incredibly hard to convey the range of characters without wardrobe changes or even exiting the stage. The emotion and atmosphere they created was applaudable and it was clear they loved what they did.

I think a real Shakespeare, or even better Macbeth fanatic would be able to engage more with the plot, therefore spending more time focusing on the quality of the acting than keeping up with the storyline. Luckily the majority of the audience was filled with younger students who were studying Macbeth in preparation for their GCSE’s, they seemed both interested and impressed by the performance.

The use of lights, sound effects, and smoke aided the play considering the scarcity of props and actors. But I particularly enjoyed the comedic aspects of the play, the actors often encouraged audience engagement and the crowd responded well with additions to the dialogue, laughing, and clapping along. The fourth wall was broken on many occasions which felt necessary with the lack of actors available. The play at times felt comical as the actors ran around the stage and acted out violent scenes.

We were kindly gifted these tickets in exchange for a review.

Written by Isabel Meszaros