There is more acting going on in Edinburgh right now than anywhere on the planet. Yet how that acting is achieved is always a mystery. The audience sees the final result but never the trial-and-error of the rehearsal room. This unshowy documentary by Sophie Fiennes aims to shed light on that process and in particular on the work of director Declan Donnellan, whose Cheek By Jowl company is famed internationally for lucid productions of the classics.

Filmed in 2021 in the stripped-back corridors and drawing rooms of London’s derelict Twyford Abbey, it observes a group of actors trying out key scenes in Macbeth, while Donnellan (and occasionally co-founder Nick Ormerod) make suggestions to free them from old habits and to think afresh. ‘Grab the opportunity to change,’ Donnellan tells them, placing more emphasis on motivation and rhythm than on the meaning of any given phrase. Playing against expectations often generates the most interesting results. 

As they repeat scenes in new combinations and new locations, the actors make fresh interpretations, sometimes revelatory and never the same twice. Donnellan has the gnomic air of a man holding a special truth, but his attentiveness demonstrates there is no magic formula in theatre, just an endless quest for discovery.

Acting, 50 George Square, Wednesday 21 August, 6pm.