Macbeth

'Macbeth' was the play set for Queensland Senior students in 1937, which D.L.Waraker's Telegraph review tells us, was "one of the unselfish reasons for its choice".  The following extract from her review reveals that despite some outstanding individual performances (special praise was given to Leo Guyatt who played Macbeth, Marjorie Mant as Lady Macbeth, and Stanley Hildebrandt as Malcolm), the production, in her opinion, was  overly ambitious for Brisbane Repertory. She wrote:

"In choosing 'Macbeth' for production last night in the Princess Theatre, the Repertory Society proved its courage and desire to be educational rather than its discretion. The play is full of pitfalls even for the most seasoned professionals and by the starkness of its terror and tragedy is rendered not the happiest choice even for clever amatuers who are capable of delighting us in lighter fare. ...

"If last night's performance then, was not one of the society's most successful for the season, we must blame the play's unsuitability rather than the work of the producer or the cast. ... For almost every member of the cast displayed an appreciation of the play's high tragedy, and Miss Barbara Sisley was responsible for an interesting simplicity in effect which smoothly disguised many difficulties in production cleverly overcome."

Extract from 'Macbeth' review by D.L.Waraker in The Telegraph, 6th August 1937.