David Tennant playing Macbeth was always going to be a hot ticket. (David Tennant playing any character on stage will be a hot ticket.)
Why then stage it at the Donmar Warehouse, which has such a small capacity? Is it because of the headphones?
You see, this production isn't your standard 'actors on stage speaking'. The actors are mic'd up – nothing unusual about that – but the audience hears everything through headphones, including the soundscape and 'other' voices.
That is much easier to set up and deliver in a small theatre, given that everyone has to have working headphones to experience the play.
What it does is put the voices of the actors in your ear. You can hear the shouts and, more importantly, the whispers. It means the actors have a different performance platform.
There is no need for projected 'stage whispers' because you have the natural effect of the actors whispering in your ear. Performances can be smaller while maintaining the intensity.
It also gives the Donmar three performance spaces. There is the raised white, 'stone' like slab, which acts as both stage and table and a glass-walled booth at the back of the stage (Ivo Van Hove/Jan Versweyveld-esque?).
And then there are the disembodied voices you hear in your ear. It transports the witches and their prophecies into Macbeth's (David Tennant) head.
However, hearing the play through headphones, while it delivers an enhanced and unique experience in many ways, is not a wholly satisfying experience, but more of that later.
