^{Picture: Sandy Butler}

When introducing this one-hour children’s version of Macbeth, Andy Cannon says, ‘it’s a bloody, violent and miserable play’. But he adds the caveat: ‘don’t worry, just like school dinners, it’s got some funny bits in it.’ You might wonder how and why one of Shakespeare’s darkest tragedies can be made to a) have funny bits and b) appeal to children. But that, as we will see, is down to the magic of an individual storyteller who plants their stamp on the work, infusing it with their own personality, as Cannon does. 

There’s nothing fancy going on here. But with an array of simple, versatile props and the force of his belief in the telling of the tale, Cannon does what bards and hearthside grannies have been doing for millennia. He is a phenomenal storyteller, injecting tiny, unexpected details (like Donald, son of Duncan, always being told to stand up, or a tender interaction between Fleance and Banquo) to put flesh on the bones of even this play’s most peripheral characters. Cannon morphs his body and voice, just enough to tweak our imagination but not enough to distract from the spine of the story that is powering through his performance. And, when needed, he makes distinctly contemporary (even feminist) decisions to frame the tale for a new generation.  

It would have been easy to ham up the witches as ugly old hags, but instead Cannon uses sleek wingtip glasses in different colours, making them seem wise and mysterious. He takes time to step out of the narrative when the famous phrase ‘not of woman born’ crops up, to explain that although the Renaissance believed in the idea of natural birth, these days C-sections save lives.

And at the end, when in an epilogue he whizzes through the ins and outs of Shakespeare’s historical accuracy versus artistic license, he says, ‘girls, you’ll be pleased to know Lady Macbeth had a name: Gruoch.’ These details might seem small but they matter, especially when planting the seeds of cultural touchstones in the minds of children. The Scottish storytelling torch is alive and burning brightly in Andy Cannon’s hands. 

Scottish Storytelling Centre, 27 & 28 August, 11.30am.