A curious touch of unwelcome comedy obtrudes into Richard Jones's new production of Verdi's Macbeth, first seen during the summer festival and now out on the road (revival director Geoffrey Dolton) as part of the company's autumn tour. Chiefly it's the look of the thing, with designer Ultz giving us a Scottish castle seemingly constructed from children's building blocks and peopled by gaily kilted courtiers who might have stepped from Brigadoon. King Duncan meets his maker in what appears to be a bedroom-cum-sauna placed amid its battlements. Out on the blasted heath, the Witches, emerging from a battered caravan, have been transformed into three teams of trailer trash - one set of them clones of The League of Gentlemen's murderous shopkeeper Tubbs.
True, the jolly capering music of the weird sisters' first incantations suggest that laughter is not inappropriate here. But later, as the music takes on much darker hues, one could perhaps have been spared the comic book villainies of Stephen Gadd's Macbeth (pictured) - truly a mad axeman. Happily, the interpretation of Verdi's score (conductor Robin Ticciati) leaves little to be desiried, though Svetlana Sozdateleva's belting approach to the role of Lady Macbeth sometimes misses the subtleties of the vocal line (and the occasional top note).
Glyndebourne on Tour is at Sadler's Wells from December 4-8, with Macbeth, Albert Herring and L'elisir d'amore. Box office: 0844 412 4300 (www.sadlerswells.com).
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