The Dickens Theatre Co - Macbeth - SOUTHEND THEATRE SCENE

REVIEW
✭✭✭✭✭ 5/5

Dickens Theatre Company

MACBETH

Palace Theatre, Westcliff on Sea
23rd February 2026

For many, putting the words Dickens and Macbeth in the same sentence would be enough to send most into a high school English Literature flashback hot sweat. However, Ryan Philpott, the artistic director of Dickens Theatre Company has devised the genius idea of bringing accessible classics to theatres, not exclusively but certainly aimed towards those GCSE students who are studying the Bard. Through the medium of theatre, students are given the opportunity to be able to experience the text and prose they have been reading in the classroom, brought to life on stage.

With Macbeth being one such study, Southend Theatre Scene had the pleasure of catching a production of the Shakespeare tragedy, performed by the Dickens Theatre Company at the Palace Theatre, Westcliff last night.

The absolute joy of this company’s production is that it is predominantly aimed towards the students who are currently revising this play and the target audience were out in force to witness for themselves the lines of Shakespeare's Macbeth relayed by the actors on stage. There are just 6 actors to tell the gory and passionate tale and so a bit of doubling up is needed here, however this is done well and with absolute clarity, never not knowing who is who. The additional choice of giving the role of the Chorus as a narrative portrayal is a stroke of genius and totally lends itself to Shake-splaining (see what I did there?) the language which may not always be blatantly obvious. Let’s face it, we’ve all struggled to understand what can sometimes seem like a foreign language. The Dickens Theatre Company make it all make sense.

All of the actors play out the roles magnificently and have no problems keeping the audience, of all ages, truly engaged with the action. Sam Oakes in his many roles of Chorus, Prince Malcolm, Porter, Second Witch and Seyton is the linchpin keeping the flow and storyline going and comprehensible throughout. He even raises a few laughs, which is always a relief when the action can get a bit heavy at times.

The ambitious Macbeth played by Johnny Allison is manipulated magnificently by his wife, the even more power hungry Lady Macbeth with Jess Balmer using her sultry yet powerful wiles to persuade her husband into his murdererous ways. Both of them portraying their own mental and emotional breakdowns with gripping reality. Kathryn Perkins also stands out, not least as one of the 'weird' sisters completely embodying the role of one of the three infamous Macbeth witches.

It has to be said that this is Shakespearean 16th Century kitchen sink drama at its theatrical best and a no better precursor to smashing those GCSE exams.

Review: Kim Tobin

The Dickens Theatre Company 2026 Revision on Tour also perform Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde as well as Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. More information can be found here:-
https://www.dickenstheatrecompany.co.uk/

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