It’s the refrain of any old man watching a new generation at play: “They just don’t make ‘em like they used to.” And on the evidence of Concordia International School’s production of Macbeth, they really don’t.

They make them a hell of a lot better.

I always fancied myself a young Alec Guinness in my school days – I defy anyone not to find beauty in my rousing interpretation of Oliver Twist as a disenchanted Marxist – but I was certainly never a part of anything quite like this. From the opening scene with the Scots and the invading Irish and Norwegian hoards, this was a spirited performance that defied the assumption that teenagers would struggle with something as weighty as Shakespeare. The cast’s delivery was so smooth; it’s hard not to picture them maintaining character for weeks. Imagine the perplexed looks of William ‘Macbeth’ Shiang’s family as he sits down to dinner saying, “Is this a dagger which I see before me, the handle toward my hand?”

Special mention must go to Director Chad Doering who managed to enliven the sometimes stodgy pace of Shakespeare’s dialogue with swordplay reminiscent of a Kurosawa classic. The local hospital was surely on alert during rehearsals, but the finished product was thrilling. In fact, the only blemish came from friendly fire, when, during a particularly powerful scene, Shiang unwittingly shaved his messenger’s eyebrows with an over zealous sword unsheathing.

My personal favourite performance came from Michael Shoesmith as the drunken porter. I asked Michael if he’d “gone method” on this, but he maintains his research was done from a purely sober, detached perspective.

Double, double toil and trouble, how have I yet said nothing about three of the most famous characters in all Shakespeares’ works? Emily Parkinson, Lina Pan and Vinia Bao were truly sinister in the role of the three witches. More than once I wanted to shout out and warn the other characters as these malevolent merchants of doom stalked the corners of the stage. Pan’s marvelous facial expressions alone were haunting and the three combined were a terrifying backbone for the production.

Macbeth was brilliantly acted, well choreographed and directed and perhaps benefited from the relatively simple set, as it took nothing away from these young actors. Although Concordia will be losing some of its best thesps to graduation this year (including the outstanding Shiang), Doering must be grateful that amongst this cast he has plenty of talent for the future. Nick Garrett

Web: http://theatre-1.ciss.com.cn