Macbeth's toil and trouble is more than child's play

Something wicked this way comes when Macbeth arrives at the Victoria Hall next week. Zita Collinson talks to Jason Lee Scott who plays the leading man in Shakespeare 4 Kidz' version of the Bard's tale

WHISPER it softly. The Scottish play notorious for heaping bad luck upon its players is coming to Hanley.

Not that the members of the Shakespeare 4 Kidz company are too concerned.

Following a production of Romeo And Juliet earlier in the year, the 14-strong cast are currently entertaining children and adults alike with a successful nationwide tour of Macbeth.

And it's third time lucky for Jason Lee Scott as the King of Scotland who is haunted by his murderous misdeeds and plagued with guilt.

The Birmingham-born actor has been working for Shakespeare 4 Kidz for four years. He's played Macbeth three times.

"I lose track of how many times I've played Macbeth," he laughs. "I have to go through the previous wives I've had to remember where I am."

This time he'll be joined on stage by Emma Odell as Lady Macbeth, the scheming spouse who persuades her husband to dispatch King Duncan in order to win the Scottish crown.

So it appears that nothing of Shakespeare's tale has been diluted for the benefit of youngsters. Instead, the stated aim of the company is to demystify the language of the Bard.

While many of the most famous lines from the play have been retained, writers Julian Chenery and Matt Gimblett have interspersed the text with contemporary speech.

The idea, they say, is to make the story easier for audiences of all ages to understand.

"Because of the name of the company a lot of people assume it's just a children's show," says Jason, who has most recently starred in the West End production of Blood Brothers. It's actually a family show that everyone can enjoy. It's definitely not simplistic or a dumbed down kids' adaptation.

"Although a lot of the original language is there, it's been restructured a little bit and sign-posted a bit more. It gives a really clear understanding of the story.

"And the good thing is that if children did want to pursue the text in greater detail, they have a head start on the plot.

"There's a lot of song and dance in it and that takes some of the intensity away, but we have kept the darkness.

"I know when I was at school, if I'm just being completely honest, it was a bit baffling. If I'd had something like this it would have been great."

The crew have been flooded with messages of support from some of the biggest names in showbiz including Stephen Fry and King of the Jungle Joe Pasquale. West End actor Jonathan Pryce, had his own catalogue of disasters to recount after playing Macbeth.

In a message to the company, he says: "When I played him in Stratford, before the first night Lady Macbeth had an accident and fractured her collar bone. I fell head first down the stairs on stage and for the first time forgot my lines in the middle of a soliloquy.

"At the Barbican in London I got stuck in the lift with the three witches and was rescued just in time to make my reappearance."

So does Jason have any similar anecdotes of Macbeth-related theatrical mishap to share?

"Touch wood, this time around we haven't had any bad luck," he says. "I've had the backdrop fall down on me once before but thankfully everything is going really well on this tour."

Macbeth is at the Victoria Hall in Stoke on Friday, November 20 at 10.30am and 1.30pm. Call 0844 871 7649.

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