★★★★★

“It’s well crafted and oddly moving, with a flair for the occult.”

The Remarkable Ben Hart deserves many remarks. Probably remarks like ‘wow’, ‘I can’t work out how he does it’, ‘maybe magic is real’, or in the case of my sister: ‘please stop telling me about this show, I’m already feeling really existential and this is so unsettling it might tip me over the edge’

Ben Hart is very remarkable (good-looking too). He’s a magician but calling him merely a magician feels a little uninspired; he’s a wizard, really. Hart mocks science with his magic, though I am loath to divulge any significant details of his act as that would spoil some of the mastery. That being said, Hart’s tricks defy gravity so many times that both Isaac Newton and Elphaba must be absolutely fuming right now.

A magician is a performer as much as he is a man of magic. And Ben Hart knows this; his command of magic is matched by his command of the stage and room. He’s charismatic, easily holding the attention and admiration of a naturally sceptical crowd, praying for some small slip up spelling his demise (maybe that’s an exaggeration, but a magician’s audience is not a forgiving one). Also, he’s funny. His job isn’t terribly dissimilar to that of a comedian, and in both his scripted work and his audience work, Hart’s chaotic humour is excellent. Engaging with the audience is necessary in order to counter their scepticism and Ben Hart is clearly adept at doing so. He’s charming and open. So at one is he with audience that by the show’s second half, he has adopted the role of a psychic. Except you feel less like you’re being scammed and more metaphysical baffled.

Naturally, a magic show is not one necessarily steeped in narrative. Yet, the piece is artfully constructed, enhanced further with its notes of mysticism. Hart weaves discussions of lucid dreams and surreal dreamscapes into his script. It’s well crafted and oddly moving, with a flair for the occult.

He’s successful for a reason, and now he’s doing a UK tour. His act is so surreal, so seemingly impossible, so mesmerising, you’d be ever so silly to miss it. Go seek him out and support some real-life wizardry.

MACBETH

Wilton’s Music Hall

★★★★

“This is a strong interpretation”

‘Macbeth’ isn’t the obvious choice for a summer open air tour. ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ or ‘Twelfth Night’ are a safer bet. Or even ‘Romeo and Juliet’. Mind you, The Duke’s Theatre Company have done all those in previous years. So, this year they have taken on the foreboding ‘Scottish Play’ that explores the dark side of ambition and power. Visiting stately homes, castles and gardens – including a spell at Cornwall’s famous Minack – it takes brief shelter under the rafters of Wilton’s Music Hall, where it seems perfectly at home, played out against the flaking walls of the venue. It is hard to imagine it beneath picturesque backdrops and sunsets. Ruth Harvey’s atmospheric lighting, with its blood reds, silhouettes, shadows and smoke, belong in the darkness way beyond sundown.

Jessica Curtis’ set places the action on three blackened platforms, precariously held together by scaffolding poles, painted red with scorched tips. Swirls of dry ice create a wasteland, barren and metallic, with little hope of new life flowering between the cracks. We are in Scotland, but we could be in T S Eliot’s world of ‘The Hollow Men’, or any contemporary strip of land torn apart by tyranny. ‘The Scottish Play’, although over four hundred years old now, still resonates with its themes of unfiltered ambition coupled with self-serving disregard for others. A story of self-obsessed decisions in the pursuit of total power. But also, a prophecy – a warning almost.

Some of the message is lost, however, inside the hall’s difficult acoustics. And nearly every word from the three witches is drowned in its pool of effects and reverb, the essence of which needs filling in with our familiarity with the text. Finnbar Hayman’s Macbeth has no problem, though, with his imposing presence. We first see him and Banquo (Edmund Morris) as they claim the stage, dressed in black like riot police. His readiness to believe the witches’ prophecies hints at an unhinged personality beneath his steely exterior, and Hayman plays on this with an originality that sheds new light on his relationship with his wife. Marilyn Nnadebe truly makes Lady Macbeth the villain of the piece – cool and striking but barely hiding layers of menace. The pair’s chemistry is fraught with sexual tension as her increasingly murderous demands send Macbeth into a powerless, almost erotic, frenzy. It is clear who wears the trousers here.

It is a strong, often multi-rolling, cast that deftly reveals the hierarchy of the period. You wouldn’t want to mess with Alasdair James McLaughlin’s dangerous Macduff, yet at the same time you are convinced by his displays of grief. William Marr is equally convincing as Malcolm; initially weak but eventually claiming his rightful place with triumph and a surprising ferocity. Jenni Walker is in fine form in a series of minor roles until she has her moment as the ill-fated Lady Macduff. James Lavender, killed off early as King Duncan, returns as a hilarious and spell binding Porter – the only time the fourth wall is broken as he treats the audience to some much-needed comic relief.

Director Robert Shaw Cameron propels the action with slick scene transitions that often overlap, unravelling the story as briskly as the collapse of Macbeth’s sanity. Rob Millett’s percussive, regimental soundtrack casts ominous threats of violence that march off into the shadows. We get a sense of the expanse of the Scottish Highlands but also the claustrophobia, especially when the scaffolding poles morph into Birnam Wood, like prison bars closing in on Macbeth’s fate. The production can boast high energy, although it often relies on a shoutiness that could do with being reined in. This is a strong interpretation of “Macbeth”. A bold choice for the company that pays off at Wilton’s Music Hall. Let’s hope it can win over the picnicking, sun-drenched audiences scattered around England’s gardens (although, typically, the rain is falling thick and fast now as I am writing this).

THE REMARKABLE BEN HART

Wilton’s Music Hall

★★★★★

“It’s well crafted and oddly moving, with a flair for the occult.”

THE REMARKABLE BEN HART

Wilton’s Music Hall then UK Tour continues

Reviewed on 4th September 2025

by Violet Howson

Photography by Matt Crockett

Recently reviewed at the venue:

THE REMARKABLE BEN HART

THE REMARKABLE BEN HART

THE REMARKABLE BEN HART

MACBETH

Wilton’s Music Hall

★★★★

“This is a strong interpretation”

MACBETH

Wilton’s Music Hall then UK Tour continues

Reviewed on 29th July 2025

by Jonathan Evans

Photography by Lidia Crisafulli

Previously reviewed at this venue:

MACBETH

MACBETH

MACBETH

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