If we judged plays simply on the way they were billed then Poor Malice would fail. It points to the story of Lady Macbeth and a multimedia backdrop but both of these are too innocuous to make a real impact. However, that doesn’t mean that it isn’t any good.
Having professed to focus on the loneliness and scheming of Shakespeare’s best villainess, Poor Malice simply offers a cut-down, reformatted version of the classic but it is one worth watching.
While Lady Macbeth herself doesn’t seem to feature more favourably than in any other variations, the company has gone for a mentally weaker Macbeth and erotically charged, lithe little witches, who ultimately steal the limelight. Present in almost every scene, the trio not only fulfill their own duties but they also manipulate the surprisingly effective, if potentially deadly, set and continue to drive the murderous Macbeths towards their eventually demise. Having said that, their pouting and moaning does get tiresome occasionally and there are intermittent signs that their idea of sexy has come from particularly cheesy movies rather than experience, though this is probably of some comfort to their families.
Poor Malice definitely isn’t brilliant but it is a well-performed, engaging version of the most performed Shakespearean play on the Fringe and is worth a look if you’re at a loose end early in the day.
3/5
Richard Biggs
