The mesmerising intensity of David Tennant’s Macbeth

Donmar Theatre, London, until February 10

If a West End play is to have any hope of success these days, it needs one thing – and that is a bankable star. It’s been a long time since anyone could reasonably have thought of David Tennant as “the Doctor Who actor,” but, so far as millions of fans of the series are concerned, that phase of this fine actor’s career has given his name a lustre that still makes him a massive draw.

Top marks, then, to Tennant for encouraging so many of them to get into a relationship with Shakespeare by agreeing to take the title role in Max Webster’s production of Macbeth at the little Donmar Warehouse theatre. It was certainly cheering to see so many young faces at an opening night.

This is a high-tech affair, with every punter being given a pair of 3D headphones that – thanks to Gareth Fry’s sound design – bring alive every homicidal thought, whispered indiscretion and cackle of the three witches. The actors talk as usual, of course, on the stage, but the soundscape going on inside every audience member’s head gives the proceedings a chilling intimacy.

At the production’s heart, however, is a performance of mesmerising intensity from Tennant. His Macbeth is cold, calculating and utterly charmless, intent only on the attainment of power. Not for one moment did I doubt that I was watching a man who could willingly kill, if that is what it took. Cush Jumbo is on great form, too, as Lady Macbeth, a wife who, so far from keeping her husband grounded, actively pushes him towards insanity.

All too often actors just can’t help flirting with audiences, but not for one moment do Tennant or Jumbo do anything but repel. It’s to their great credit I felt sullied even being in their presence.

The production has an authentic Scottish feel and sound, but what makes it so powerful is it feels completely contemporary with Bruno Poet’s stark lighting and the almost documentary-like feel with which Webster invests the production.

Webster rightly chooses not to break the concentration of the actors and audience and it runs straight through at one hour and 50 minutes. His only misjudgment is a chronically jarring and unfunny Jimmy Tarbuck-style comedy turn in the middle from Jatinder Singh Randhawa as the porter – sparring with audience members – that mercifully only lasted for a few minutes.

Still, this is an extraordinary piece of powerful and unforgettable theatre. Taken together, Shakespeare’s plays amount to a guidebook for life – encompassing all seven ages – and this is the one that examines the very darkest recesses of the human soul. Its most memorable line – “blood will have blood” – has an almost unbearable resonance in a world that seems all too capable still of descending into barbarism.