One of Shakespeare's greatest, but also bloodiest tragedies, was written around 1605/06. Many have seen the story of Macbeth's murder and usurpation of the legitimate Scottish King Duncan as having obvious connection to contemporary issues regarding King James I (James VI of Scotland), and the Gunpowder Plot of 1605. King James was particularly fascinated with witchcraft, so the appearance of the witches chanting "Fair is foul, and foul is fair" at the opening of the play seemed particularly topical, as was Macbeth's betrayal of Banquo, from whom James claimed direct descent.

However, the play is clearly far more than a piece of royal entertainment. It is also a fast-moving and dramatically satisfying piece of theatre. Macbeth's existential struggle between loyalty to his King and his "Vaulting ambition" is fascinating to watch, as his is struggle with Lady Macbeth, and her own terrifying refusal of her maternal role. The play shows an intensification of Shakespeare's interest in mothers and their effect upon ruling masculinity, and also contains some of the most memorable speeches in the entire canon, including Macbeth's reflections that ultimately life "is a tale / Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, / Signifying nothing". --Jerry Brotton

Thoughts on Macbeth, 16 Jun 2008
Macbeth is the story of a general in the army of King Duncan of Scotland, who is approached by three witches, who plant the seeds of ruthless ambition in his mind, by predicting that he will be made King of Scotland.
He invites King Duncan to his castle, where encouraged by his, wife, he murders him.
He manipulates events to become King, and embarks on a reign of bloody tyranny, having all killed who stand in his way, or who he suspects may do so.
Macbeth is the story of tyranny and ambition. It is also the story of inner struggles and of Macbeth's own diseased imagination.

The primary villains of the play are the three witches. They do not simply predict, but indeed their soul aim is to sow evil and destruction wherever they can: " Fair is foul and foul is fair. Hover through the fog and filthy air."
Their motto seems to be an apt encapsulation of the dominant 21st century worldview. Indeed Orwell and Kafka where to predict a similar world where truth would be lies and lies would be truth, good would be evil and evil would be good, war would be peace and peace would be war. This twisted view of the witches is the worldview of Bolshevism and leftism today, where terrorists and dictators are lauded as `revolutionary heroes' and those who defend against the former are vilified and reviled.

The three witches of today are academia, the media and the United Nations.

Lady Macbeth is but a pale shadow of the witches. She encourages her husband in his evil, but is destroyed by her own guilt.
She needs to call on the evil spirits to `unsex' her and fill her with the direst cruelty, but at the end `all the perfumes of Arabia' cannot wash away the guilt of her deeds.
The plea to be unsexed is relevant to the sexlesness of the cruel Bolshevik women of the last century and of women terrorists and women leftwing academics. These are generally sexless and totally cruel in pursuing revolution and the destruction of Judeo-Christian civilization.

Lady Macbeth was outwardly beautiful but most of these unsexed women of the revolution have not. Unlike Lady Macbeth they have achieved the being of the three witches for whom they resemble.

The play is indeed full of rich irony- how Macbeth persuades the three murderers that Banquo is responsible for their misfortunes, twisting the truth to suit his unholy ends as the media so often does today.

Macbeth is brought to justice for his deeds. His arrogance is his downfall.

The benevolent influence though, in this story is the doctor of physic - the voice of compassion and religion who says while attempting to heal Lady Macbeth- "More she needs the divine than the physician-G-D, G-D forgive us all"


The greatest Lady Macbeth since Judi Dench, 22 Mar 2006
OK: so it's a bit odd to review a performance of "Macbeth" and single out Lady Macbeth. Just as it is to compare an audio performance to a live one - they are, of course, massively different.
That said, Fiona Shaw's performance as Lady Macbeth is astoundingly good and real. Every word feels thought and every phrase feels new. It really is a remarkable piece of characterisation and performance. Stephen Dillane, though not Shaw's match, is a thoughtful and aware Macbeth.
It's a must own, for Shaw alone, but there are many pleasures to this great rendition of a great play.

Lay on, Macduff!, 28 Nov 2002
While I was basically familiar with Shakespeare's Tragedy of Macbeth, I have only recently actually read the bard's brilliant play. The drama is quite dark and moody, but this atmosphere serves Shakespeare's purposes well. In Macbeth, we delve deeply into the heart of a true fiend, a man who would betray the king, who showers honors upon him, in a vainglorious snatch at power. Yet Macbeth is not 100% evil, nor is he a truly brave soul. He waxes and wanes over the execution of his nefarious plans, and he thereafter finds himself haunted by the blood on his own hands and by the ethereal spirits of the innocent men he has had murdered. On his own, Macbeth is much too cowardly to act so traitorously to his kind and his country. The source of true evil in these pages is the cold and calculating Lady Macbeth; it is she who plots the ultimate betrayal, forcefully pushes her husband to perform the dreadful acts, and cleans up after him when he loses his nerve. This extraordinary woman is the lynchpin of man's eternal fascination with this drama. I find her behavior a little hard to account for in the closing act, but she looms over every single male character we meet here, be he king, loyalist, nobleman, courtier, or soldier. Lady Macbeth is one of the most complicated, fascinating, unforgettable female characters in all of literature.

The plot does not seem to move along as well as Shakespeare's other most popular dramas, but I believe this is a result of the writer's intense focus on the human heart rather than the secondary activity that surrounds the related royal events. It is fascinating if sometimes rather disjointed reading. One problem I had with this play in particular was one of keeping up with each of the many characters that appear in the tale; the English of Shakespeare's time makes it difficult for me to form lasting impressions of the secondary characters, of whom there are many. Overall, though, Macbeth has just about everything a great drama needs: evil deeds, betrayal, murder, fighting, ghosts, omens, cowardice, heroism, love, and, as a delightful bonus, mysterious witches. Very many of Shakespeare's more famous quotes are also to be found in these pages, making it an important cultural resource for literary types. The play doesn't grab your attention and absorb you into its world the way Hamlet or Romeo and Juliet does, but this voyage deep into the heart of evil, jealousy, selfishness, and pride forces you to consider the state of your own deep-seated wishes and dreams, and for that reason there are as many interpretations of the essence of the tragedy as there are readers of this Shakespearean masterpiece. No man's fall can rival that of Macbeth's, and there is a great object lesson to be found in this drama. You cannot analyze Macbeth without analyzing yourself to some degree, and that goes a long way toward accounting for the Tragedy of Macbeth's literary importance and longevity.

Not dark enough, 02 Nov 2002
I was disappointed by this CD, particularly as the Naxos recording of King Lear with Schofield is so fine and the Richard III with Branagh a worthy production. Dillane, rated as a fine actor, fails badly to convey the steel and darkness of Macbeth for the early part of this play. Famous soliloquies,'Is this a dagger' fall flat. Later, he improves but fails yet to hit the heights. Finoa Shaw as Lady Macbeth, however, is magnificent. The CD also has some annoying quirks of recording, one scene sounding as if it has been recorded in a shower room

Cleverly crafted and tragicaly true, 28 Jul 1999
Shakespeare's cleverness shows through in Macbeth, in my mind one of his greatest plays. By appealing to ALL components of his audience, from James I (via Banquo's royal progeny) to the uneducated and superstitious groundlings (via witches and ghosts), Shakespeare created a timeless classic. Macbeth's tragic flaw, "vaulting ambition," ultimately causes his downfall; this downfall serves as an ultimate, meaningful, and universal warning: while ambition may cause a person to rise in status and prestige, too much ambition may cause a person to both lose touch with reality and improve his/her status by any means possible (including murder). Suspense and mystery, combined with mystical superstition, believable characters, eerily vivid descriptions, and universal themes, make Macbeth a wonderful play to read, to interpret, and to analyze.

Thoughts on Macbeth, 16 Jun 2008
Macbeth is the story of a general in the army of King Duncan of Scotland, who is approached by three witches, who plant the seeds of ruthless ambition in his mind, by predicting that he will be made King of Scotland.
He invites King Duncan to his castle, where encouraged by his, wife, he murders him.
He manipulates events to become King, and embarks on a reign of bloody tyranny, having all killed who stand in his way, or who he suspects may do so.
Macbeth is the story of tyranny and ambition. It is also the story of inner struggles and of Macbeth's own diseased imagination.

The primary villains of the play are the three witches. They do not simply predict, but indeed their soul aim is to sow evil and destruction wherever they can: " Fair is foul and foul is fair. Hover through the fog and filthy air."
Their motto seems to be an apt encapsulation of the dominant 21st century worldview. Indeed Orwell and Kafka where to predict a similar world where truth would be lies and lies would be truth, good would be evil and evil would be good, war would be peace and peace would be war. This twisted view of the witches is the worldview of Bolshevism and leftism today, where terrorists and dictators are lauded as `revolutionary heroes' and those who defend against the former are vilified and reviled.

The three witches of today are academia, the media and the United Nations.

Lady Macbeth is but a pale shadow of the witches. She encourages her husband in his evil, but is destroyed by her own guilt.
She needs to call on the evil spirits to `unsex' her and fill her with the direst cruelty, but at the end `all the perfumes of Arabia' cannot wash away the guilt of her deeds.
The plea to be unsexed is relevant to the sexlesness of the cruel Bolshevik women of the last century and of women terrorists and women leftwing academics. These are generally sexless and totally cruel in pursuing revolution and the destruction of Judeo-Christian civilization.

Lady Macbeth was outwardly beautiful but most of these unsexed women of the revolution have not. Unlike Lady Macbeth they have achieved the being of the three witches for whom they resemble.

The play is indeed full of rich irony- how Macbeth persuades the three murderers that Banquo is responsible for their misfortunes, twisting the truth to suit his unholy ends as the media so often does today.

Macbeth is brought to justice for his deeds. His arrogance is his downfall.

The benevolent influence though, in this story is the doctor of physic - the voice of compassion and religion who says while attempting to heal Lady Macbeth- "More she needs the divine than the physician-G-D, G-D forgive us all"


The greatest Lady Macbeth since Judi Dench, 22 Mar 2006
OK: so it's a bit odd to review a performance of "Macbeth" and single out Lady Macbeth. Just as it is to compare an audio performance to a live one - they are, of course, massively different.
That said, Fiona Shaw's performance as Lady Macbeth is astoundingly good and real. Every word feels thought and every phrase feels new. It really is a remarkable piece of characterisation and performance. Stephen Dillane, though not Shaw's match, is a thoughtful and aware Macbeth.
It's a must own, for Shaw alone, but there are many pleasures to this great rendition of a great play.

Lay on, Macduff!, 28 Nov 2002
While I was basically familiar with Shakespeare's Tragedy of Macbeth, I have only recently actually read the bard's brilliant play. The drama is quite dark and moody, but this atmosphere serves Shakespeare's purposes well. In Macbeth, we delve deeply into the heart of a true fiend, a man who would betray the king, who showers honors upon him, in a vainglorious snatch at power. Yet Macbeth is not 100% evil, nor is he a truly brave soul. He waxes and wanes over the execution of his nefarious plans, and he thereafter finds himself haunted by the blood on his own hands and by the ethereal spirits of the innocent men he has had murdered. On his own, Macbeth is much too cowardly to act so traitorously to his kind and his country. The source of true evil in these pages is the cold and calculating Lady Macbeth; it is she who plots the ultimate betrayal, forcefully pushes her husband to perform the dreadful acts, and cleans up after him when he loses his nerve. This extraordinary woman is the lynchpin of man's eternal fascination with this drama. I find her behavior a little hard to account for in the closing act, but she looms over every single male character we meet here, be he king, loyalist, nobleman, courtier, or soldier. Lady Macbeth is one of the most complicated, fascinating, unforgettable female characters in all of literature.

The plot does not seem to move along as well as Shakespeare's other most popular dramas, but I believe this is a result of the writer's intense focus on the human heart rather than the secondary activity that surrounds the related royal events. It is fascinating if sometimes rather disjointed reading. One problem I had with this play in particular was one of keeping up with each of the many characters that appear in the tale; the English of Shakespeare's time makes it difficult for me to form lasting impressions of the secondary characters, of whom there are many. Overall, though, Macbeth has just about everything a great drama needs: evil deeds, betrayal, murder, fighting, ghosts, omens, cowardice, heroism, love, and, as a delightful bonus, mysterious witches. Very many of Shakespeare's more famous quotes are also to be found in these pages, making it an important cultural resource for literary types. The play doesn't grab your attention and absorb you into its world the way Hamlet or Romeo and Juliet does, but this voyage deep into the heart of evil, jealousy, selfishness, and pride forces you to consider the state of your own deep-seated wishes and dreams, and for that reason there are as many interpretations of the essence of the tragedy as there are readers of this Shakespearean masterpiece. No man's fall can rival that of Macbeth's, and there is a great object lesson to be found in this drama. You cannot analyze Macbeth without analyzing yourself to some degree, and that goes a long way toward accounting for the Tragedy of Macbeth's literary importance and longevity.

Not dark enough, 02 Nov 2002
I was disappointed by this CD, particularly as the Naxos recording of King Lear with Schofield is so fine and the Richard III with Branagh a worthy production. Dillane, rated as a fine actor, fails badly to convey the steel and darkness of Macbeth for the early part of this play. Famous soliloquies,'Is this a dagger' fall flat. Later, he improves but fails yet to hit the heights. Finoa Shaw as Lady Macbeth, however, is magnificent. The CD also has some annoying quirks of recording, one scene sounding as if it has been recorded in a shower room

Cleverly crafted and tragicaly true, 28 Jul 1999
Shakespeare's cleverness shows through in Macbeth, in my mind one of his greatest plays. By appealing to ALL components of his audience, from James I (via Banquo's royal progeny) to the uneducated and superstitious groundlings (via witches and ghosts), Shakespeare created a timeless classic. Macbeth's tragic flaw, "vaulting ambition," ultimately causes his downfall; this downfall serves as an ultimate, meaningful, and universal warning: while ambition may cause a person to rise in status and prestige, too much ambition may cause a person to both lose touch with reality and improve his/her status by any means possible (including murder). Suspense and mystery, combined with mystical superstition, believable characters, eerily vivid descriptions, and universal themes, make Macbeth a wonderful play to read, to interpret, and to analyze.

Great Help, 18 Feb 2004
This book has helped my son tremendously. It is a must for anyone starting their GCSE course work. Delivery was prompt.

Thoughts on Macbeth, 16 Jun 2008
Macbeth is the story of a general in the army of King Duncan of Scotland, who is approached by three witches, who plant the seeds of ruthless ambition in his mind, by predicting that he will be made King of Scotland.
He invites King Duncan to his castle, where encouraged by his, wife, he murders him.
He manipulates events to become King, and embarks on a reign of bloody tyranny, having all killed who stand in his way, or who he suspects may do so.
Macbeth is the story of tyranny and ambition. It is also the story of inner struggles and of Macbeth's own diseased imagination.

The primary villains of the play are the three witches. They do not simply predict, but indeed their soul aim is to sow evil and destruction wherever they can: " Fair is foul and foul is fair. Hover through the fog and filthy air."
Their motto seems to be an apt encapsulation of the dominant 21st century worldview. Indeed Orwell and Kafka where to predict a similar world where truth would be lies and lies would be truth, good would be evil and evil would be good, war would be peace and peace would be war. This twisted view of the witches is the worldview of Bolshevism and leftism today, where terrorists and dictators are lauded as `revolutionary heroes' and those who defend against the former are vilified and reviled.

The three witches of today are academia, the media and the United Nations.

Lady Macbeth is but a pale shadow of the witches. She encourages her husband in his evil, but is destroyed by her own guilt.
She needs to call on the evil spirits to `unsex' her and fill her with the direst cruelty, but at the end `all the perfumes of Arabia' cannot wash away the guilt of her deeds.
The plea to be unsexed is relevant to the sexlesness of the cruel Bolshevik women of the last century and of women terrorists and women leftwing academics. These are generally sexless and totally cruel in pursuing revolution and the destruction of Judeo-Christian civilization.

Lady Macbeth was outwardly beautiful but most of these unsexed women of the revolution have not. Unlike Lady Macbeth they have achieved the being of the three witches for whom they resemble.

The play is indeed full of rich irony- how Macbeth persuades the three murderers that Banquo is responsible for their misfortunes, twisting the truth to suit his unholy ends as the media so often does today.

Macbeth is brought to justice for his deeds. His arrogance is his downfall.

The benevolent influence though, in this story is the doctor of physic - the voice of compassion and religion who says while attempting to heal Lady Macbeth- "More she needs the divine than the physician-G-D, G-D forgive us all"


The greatest Lady Macbeth since Judi Dench, 22 Mar 2006
OK: so it's a bit odd to review a performance of "Macbeth" and single out Lady Macbeth. Just as it is to compare an audio performance to a live one - they are, of course, massively different.
That said, Fiona Shaw's performance as Lady Macbeth is astoundingly good and real. Every word feels thought and every phrase feels new. It really is a remarkable piece of characterisation and performance. Stephen Dillane, though not Shaw's match, is a thoughtful and aware Macbeth.
It's a must own, for Shaw alone, but there are many pleasures to this great rendition of a great play.

Lay on, Macduff!, 28 Nov 2002
While I was basically familiar with Shakespeare's Tragedy of Macbeth, I have only recently actually read the bard's brilliant play. The drama is quite dark and moody, but this atmosphere serves Shakespeare's purposes well. In Macbeth, we delve deeply into the heart of a true fiend, a man who would betray the king, who showers honors upon him, in a vainglorious snatch at power. Yet Macbeth is not 100% evil, nor is he a truly brave soul. He waxes and wanes over the execution of his nefarious plans, and he thereafter finds himself haunted by the blood on his own hands and by the ethereal spirits of the innocent men he has had murdered. On his own, Macbeth is much too cowardly to act so traitorously to his kind and his country. The source of true evil in these pages is the cold and calculating Lady Macbeth; it is she who plots the ultimate betrayal, forcefully pushes her husband to perform the dreadful acts, and cleans up after him when he loses his nerve. This extraordinary woman is the lynchpin of man's eternal fascination with this drama. I find her behavior a little hard to account for in the closing act, but she looms over every single male character we meet here, be he king, loyalist, nobleman, courtier, or soldier. Lady Macbeth is one of the most complicated, fascinating, unforgettable female characters in all of literature.

The plot does not seem to move along as well as Shakespeare's other most popular dramas, but I believe this is a result of the writer's intense focus on the human heart rather than the secondary activity that surrounds the related royal events. It is fascinating if sometimes rather disjointed reading. One problem I had with this play in particular was one of keeping up with each of the many characters that appear in the tale; the English of Shakespeare's time makes it difficult for me to form lasting impressions of the secondary characters, of whom there are many. Overall, though, Macbeth has just about everything a great drama needs: evil deeds, betrayal, murder, fighting, ghosts, omens, cowardice, heroism, love, and, as a delightful bonus, mysterious witches. Very many of Shakespeare's more famous quotes are also to be found in these pages, making it an important cultural resource for literary types. The play doesn't grab your attention and absorb you into its world the way Hamlet or Romeo and Juliet does, but this voyage deep into the heart of evil, jealousy, selfishness, and pride forces you to consider the state of your own deep-seated wishes and dreams, and for that reason there are as many interpretations of the essence of the tragedy as there are readers of this Shakespearean masterpiece. No man's fall can rival that of Macbeth's, and there is a great object lesson to be found in this drama. You cannot analyze Macbeth without analyzing yourself to some degree, and that goes a long way toward accounting for the Tragedy of Macbeth's literary importance and longevity.

Not dark enough, 02 Nov 2002
I was disappointed by this CD, particularly as the Naxos recording of King Lear with Schofield is so fine and the Richard III with Branagh a worthy production. Dillane, rated as a fine actor, fails badly to convey the steel and darkness of Macbeth for the early part of this play. Famous soliloquies,'Is this a dagger' fall flat. Later, he improves but fails yet to hit the heights. Finoa Shaw as Lady Macbeth, however, is magnificent. The CD also has some annoying quirks of recording, one scene sounding as if it has been recorded in a shower room

Cleverly crafted and tragicaly true, 28 Jul 1999
Shakespeare's cleverness shows through in Macbeth, in my mind one of his greatest plays. By appealing to ALL components of his audience, from James I (via Banquo's royal progeny) to the uneducated and superstitious groundlings (via witches and ghosts), Shakespeare created a timeless classic. Macbeth's tragic flaw, "vaulting ambition," ultimately causes his downfall; this downfall serves as an ultimate, meaningful, and universal warning: while ambition may cause a person to rise in status and prestige, too much ambition may cause a person to both lose touch with reality and improve his/her status by any means possible (including murder). Suspense and mystery, combined with mystical superstition, believable characters, eerily vivid descriptions, and universal themes, make Macbeth a wonderful play to read, to interpret, and to analyze.

Great Help, 18 Feb 2004
This book has helped my son tremendously. It is a must for anyone starting their GCSE course work. Delivery was prompt.

make up for beginners , 03 Aug 2007
this book is a good starting point of your looking for basic information. Not much for the expereinced artist. The stories and advice from established artists are a good edition. Overall an good book for a beginner or someone just out of college.

a must for all makeup students!!!!, 12 Nov 2006
this book was one of the many recommended to me whilst completing my makeup artist diploma

i think its a great book for students

it covers everything regarding fashion, photographic, theatrical and media makeup

it even discusses pros and cons of being a makeup artist, absolutely fab!

An inspiring guide, 13 Nov 2004
An inspiring guide for anyone considering or studying towards a career as a Make Up Artist. Well illustrated, very readable text, featuring the pros and cons of the industry and career progression of Make Up artists already in the profession. A good book.

Excellent book., 31 Jan 2003
This book is the best make up book I have read. Clear descriptions with lots of pictures and easy to read text make this a very accessible book. Every page is full of great illustrations and pictures with some truly stunning examples. I would find it hard to think of any area of the industry not covered within the book. Every area of make up is covered step by step. The case profiles are particular good, with "real" makeup artists at different points in their careers talking about the challenges and successes they have achieved. In summmary, a very clear, comprehensive and down to earth guide to make up and the make up industry that is truly "a complete guide".

Thoughts on Macbeth, 16 Jun 2008
Macbeth is the story of a general in the army of King Duncan of Scotland, who is approached by three witches, who plant the seeds of ruthless ambition in his mind, by predicting that he will be made King of Scotland.
He invites King Duncan to his castle, where encouraged by his, wife, he murders him.
He manipulates events to become King, and embarks on a reign of bloody tyranny, having all killed who stand in his way, or who he suspects may do so.
Macbeth is the story of tyranny and ambition. It is also the story of inner struggles and of Macbeth's own diseased imagination.

The primary villains of the play are the three witches. They do not simply predict, but indeed their soul aim is to sow evil and destruction wherever they can: " Fair is foul and foul is fair. Hover through the fog and filthy air."
Their motto seems to be an apt encapsulation of the dominant 21st century worldview. Indeed Orwell and Kafka where to predict a similar world where truth would be lies and lies would be truth, good would be evil and evil would be good, war would be peace and peace would be war. This twisted view of the witches is the worldview of Bolshevism and leftism today, where terrorists and dictators are lauded as `revolutionary heroes' and those who defend against the former are vilified and reviled.

The three witches of today are academia, the media and the United Nations.

Lady Macbeth is but a pale shadow of the witches. She encourages her husband in his evil, but is destroyed by her own guilt.
She needs to call on the evil spirits to `unsex' her and fill her with the direst cruelty, but at the end `all the perfumes of Arabia' cannot wash away the guilt of her deeds.
The plea to be unsexed is relevant to the sexlesness of the cruel Bolshevik women of the last century and of women terrorists and women leftwing academics. These are generally sexless and totally cruel in pursuing revolution and the destruction of Judeo-Christian civilization.

Lady Macbeth was outwardly beautiful but most of these unsexed women of the revolution have not. Unlike Lady Macbeth they have achieved the being of the three witches for whom they resemble.

The play is indeed full of rich irony- how Macbeth persuades the three murderers that Banquo is responsible for their misfortunes, twisting the truth to suit his unholy ends as the media so often does today.

Macbeth is brought to justice for his deeds. His arrogance is his downfall.

The benevolent influence though, in this story is the doctor of physic - the voice of compassion and religion who says while attempting to heal Lady Macbeth- "More she needs the divine than the physician-G-D, G-D forgive us all"


The greatest Lady Macbeth since Judi Dench, 22 Mar 2006
OK: so it's a bit odd to review a performance of "Macbeth" and single out Lady Macbeth. Just as it is to compare an audio performance to a live one - they are, of course, massively different.
That said, Fiona Shaw's performance as Lady Macbeth is astoundingly good and real. Every word feels thought and every phrase feels new. It really is a remarkable piece of characterisation and performance. Stephen Dillane, though not Shaw's match, is a thoughtful and aware Macbeth.
It's a must own, for Shaw alone, but there are many pleasures to this great rendition of a great play.

Lay on, Macduff!, 28 Nov 2002
While I was basically familiar with Shakespeare's Tragedy of Macbeth, I have only recently actually read the bard's brilliant play. The drama is quite dark and moody, but this atmosphere serves Shakespeare's purposes well. In Macbeth, we delve deeply into the heart of a true fiend, a man who would betray the king, who showers honors upon him, in a vainglorious snatch at power. Yet Macbeth is not 100% evil, nor is he a truly brave soul. He waxes and wanes over the execution of his nefarious plans, and he thereafter finds himself haunted by the blood on his own hands and by the ethereal spirits of the innocent men he has had murdered. On his own, Macbeth is much too cowardly to act so traitorously to his kind and his country. The source of true evil in these pages is the cold and calculating Lady Macbeth; it is she who plots the ultimate betrayal, forcefully pushes her husband to perform the dreadful acts, and cleans up after him when he loses his nerve. This extraordinary woman is the lynchpin of man's eternal fascination with this drama. I find her behavior a little hard to account for in the closing act, but she looms over every single male character we meet here, be he king, loyalist, nobleman, courtier, or soldier. Lady Macbeth is one of the most complicated, fascinating, unforgettable female characters in all of literature.

The plot does not seem to move along as well as Shakespeare's other most popular dramas, but I believe this is a result of the writer's intense focus on the human heart rather than the secondary activity that surrounds the related royal events. It is fascinating if sometimes rather disjointed reading. One problem I had with this play in particular was one of keeping up with each of the many characters that appear in the tale; the English of Shakespeare's time makes it difficult for me to form lasting impressions of the secondary characters, of whom there are many. Overall, though, Macbeth has just about everything a great drama needs: evil deeds, betrayal, murder, fighting, ghosts, omens, cowardice, heroism, love, and, as a delightful bonus, mysterious witches. Very many of Shakespeare's more famous quotes are also to be found in these pages, making it an important cultural resource for literary types. The play doesn't grab your attention and absorb you into its world the way Hamlet or Romeo and Juliet does, but this voyage deep into the heart of evil, jealousy, selfishness, and pride forces you to consider the state of your own deep-seated wishes and dreams, and for that reason there are as many interpretations of the essence of the tragedy as there are readers of this Shakespearean masterpiece. No man's fall can rival that of Macbeth's, and there is a great object lesson to be found in this drama. You cannot analyze Macbeth without analyzing yourself to some degree, and that goes a long way toward accounting for the Tragedy of Macbeth's literary importance and longevity.

Not dark enough, 02 Nov 2002
I was disappointed by this CD, particularly as the Naxos recording of King Lear with Schofield is so fine and the Richard III with Branagh a worthy production. Dillane, rated as a fine actor, fails badly to convey the steel and darkness of Macbeth for the early part of this play. Famous soliloquies,'Is this a dagger' fall flat. Later, he improves but fails yet to hit the heights. Finoa Shaw as Lady Macbeth, however, is magnificent. The CD also has some annoying quirks of recording, one scene sounding as if it has been recorded in a shower room

Cleverly crafted and tragicaly true, 28 Jul 1999
Shakespeare's cleverness shows through in Macbeth, in my mind one of his greatest plays. By appealing to ALL components of his audience, from James I (via Banquo's royal progeny) to the uneducated and superstitious groundlings (via witches and ghosts), Shakespeare created a timeless classic. Macbeth's tragic flaw, "vaulting ambition," ultimately causes his downfall; this downfall serves as an ultimate, meaningful, and universal warning: while ambition may cause a person to rise in status and prestige, too much ambition may cause a person to both lose touch with reality and improve his/her status by any means possible (including murder). Suspense and mystery, combined with mystical superstition, believable characters, eerily vivid descriptions, and universal themes, make Macbeth a wonderful play to read, to interpret, and to analyze.

Great Help, 18 Feb 2004
This book has helped my son tremendously. It is a must for anyone starting their GCSE course work. Delivery was prompt.

make up for beginners , 03 Aug 2007
this book is a good starting point of your looking for basic information. Not much for the expereinced artist. The stories and advice from established artists are a good edition. Overall an good book for a beginner or someone just out of college.

a must for all makeup students!!!!, 12 Nov 2006
this book was one of the many recommended to me whilst completing my makeup artist diploma

i think its a great book for students

it covers everything regarding fashion, photographic, theatrical and media makeup

it even discusses pros and cons of being a makeup artist, absolutely fab!

An inspiring guide, 13 Nov 2004
An inspiring guide for anyone considering or studying towards a career as a Make Up Artist. Well illustrated, very readable text, featuring the pros and cons of the industry and career progression of Make Up artists already in the profession. A good book.

Excellent book., 31 Jan 2003
This book is the best make up book I have read. Clear descriptions with lots of pictures and easy to read text make this a very accessible book. Every page is full of great illustrations and pictures with some truly stunning examples. I would find it hard to think of any area of the industry not covered within the book. Every area of make up is covered step by step. The case profiles are particular good, with "real" makeup artists at different points in their careers talking about the challenges and successes they have achieved. In summmary, a very clear, comprehensive and down to earth guide to make up and the make up industry that is truly "a complete guide".

Surprisingly good!, 22 Feb 2006
In all honesty I bought this book as it was on the book list for my drama degree not because it interested me. But as I am reading it I am finding that it is not only easy to read but it is actually enjoyable too! It is very east to sit and read a chapter without having to re-read over every paragraph because you have forgotten what you have just read! I would recommend this book to anyone who is working in schools or with the community as it has a lot of insight and many simple but effective games and ideas.

Essential manual for anyone in theatre, 09 Mar 1999
Roughly divided into three sections, Boal's Games for Actors and Non-Actors is by now a bible in the trade and is far more readable than the dense (but rewarding) Theatre of the Oppressed. The first part outlines, with relevant examples, the methods known as Image, Invisible and Forum Theatre and gives very practical advice to potential practitioners. In the second section, Boal takes us through a wealth of games and exercises which are devoted to integrating groups, exploring the senses, politicising the actor, releasing expression. They are invaluable and are stimulating (I have used them with diverse groups - trainers, actors, the deaf community, people with Down Syndrome, the elderly, teachers, theatre directors). The third section looks at problems arising from and issues associated with Forum theatre, and leads the way towards his subsequent work in Legislative Theatre. Adrian Jackson provides a wonderfully lucid translation which captures the energy and dynamism of Boal's voice.

Thoughts on Macbeth, 16 Jun 2008
Macbeth is the story of a general in the army of King Duncan of Scotland, who is approached by three witches, who plant the seeds of ruthless ambition in his mind, by predicting that he will be made King of Scotland.
He invites King Duncan to his castle, where encouraged by his, wife, he murders him.
He manipulates events to become King, and embarks on a reign of bloody tyranny, having all killed who stand in his way, or who he suspects may do so.
Macbeth is the story of tyranny and ambition. It is also the story of inner struggles and of Macbeth's own diseased imagination.

The primary villains of the play are the three witches. They do not simply predict, but indeed their soul aim is to sow evil and destruction wherever they can: " Fair is foul and foul is fair. Hover through the fog and filthy air."
Their motto seems to be an apt encapsulation of the dominant 21st century worldview. Indeed Orwell and Kafka where to predict a similar world where truth would be lies and lies would be truth, good would be evil and evil would be good, war would be peace and peace would be war. This twisted view of the witches is the worldview of Bolshevism and leftism today, where terrorists and dictators are lauded as `revolutionary heroes' and those who defend against the former are vilified and reviled.

The three witches of today are academia, the media and the United Nations.

Lady Macbeth is but a pale shadow of the witches. She encourages her husband in his evil, but is destroyed by her own guilt.
She needs to call on the evil spirits to `unsex' her and fill her with the direst cruelty, but at the end `all the perfumes of Arabia' cannot wash away the guilt of her deeds.
The plea to be unsexed is relevant to the sexlesness of the cruel Bolshevik women of the last century and of women terrorists and women leftwing academics. These are generally sexless and totally cruel in pursuing revolution and the destruction of Judeo-Christian civilization.

Lady Macbeth was outwardly beautiful but most of these unsexed women of the revolution have not. Unlike Lady Macbeth they have achieved the being of the three witches for whom they resemble.

The play is indeed full of rich irony- how Macbeth persuades the three murderers that Banquo is responsible for their misfortunes, twisting the truth to suit his unholy ends as the media so often does today.

Macbeth is brought to justice for his deeds. His arrogance is his downfall.

The benevolent influence though, in this story is the doctor of physic - the voice of compassion and religion who says while attempting to heal Lady Macbeth- "More she needs the divine than the physician-G-D, G-D forgive us all"


The greatest Lady Macbeth since Judi Dench, 22 Mar 2006
OK: so it's a bit odd to review a performance of "Macbeth" and single out Lady Macbeth. Just as it is to compare an audio performance to a live one - they are, of course, massively different.
That said, Fiona Shaw's performance as Lady Macbeth is astoundingly good and real. Every word feels thought and every phrase feels new. It really is a remarkable piece of characterisation and performance. Stephen Dillane, though not Shaw's match, is a thoughtful and aware Macbeth.
It's a must own, for Shaw alone, but there are many pleasures to this great rendition of a great play.

Lay on, Macduff!, 28 Nov 2002
While I was basically familiar with Shakespeare's Tragedy of Macbeth, I have only recently actually read the bard's brilliant play. The drama is quite dark and moody, but this atmosphere serves Shakespeare's purposes well. In Macbeth, we delve deeply into the heart of a true fiend, a man who would betray the king, who showers honors upon him, in a vainglorious snatch at power. Yet Macbeth is not 100% evil, nor is he a truly brave soul. He waxes and wanes over the execution of his nefarious plans, and he thereafter finds himself haunted by the blood on his own hands and by the ethereal spirits of the innocent men he has had murdered. On his own, Macbeth is much too cowardly to act so traitorously to his kind and his country. The source of true evil in these pages is the cold and calculating Lady Macbeth; it is she who plots the ultimate betrayal, forcefully pushes her husband to perform the dreadful acts, and cleans up after him when he loses his nerve. This extraordinary woman is the lynchpin of man's eternal fascination with this drama. I find her behavior a little hard to account for in the closing act, but she looms over every single male character we meet here, be he king, loyalist, nobleman, courtier, or soldier. Lady Macbeth is one of the most complicated, fascinating, unforgettable female characters in all of literature.

The plot does not seem to move along as well as Shakespeare's other most popular dramas, but I believe this is a result of the writer's intense focus on the human heart rather than the secondary activity that surrounds the related royal events. It is fascinating if sometimes rather disjointed reading. One problem I had with this play in particular was one of keeping up with each of the many characters that appear in the tale; the English of Shakespeare's time makes it difficult for me to form lasting impressions of the secondary characters, of whom there are many. Overall, though, Macbeth has just about everything a great drama needs: evil deeds, betrayal, murder, fighting, ghosts, omens, cowardice, heroism, love, and, as a delightful bonus, mysterious witches. Very many of Shakespeare's more famous quotes are also to be found in these pages, making it an important cultural resource for literary types. The play doesn't grab your attention and absorb you into its world the way Hamlet or Romeo and Juliet does, but this voyage deep into the heart of evil, jealousy, selfishness, and pride forces you to consider the state of your own deep-seated wishes and dreams, and for that reason there are as many interpretations of the essence of the tragedy as there are readers of this Shakespearean masterpiece. No man's fall can rival that of Macbeth's, and there is a great object lesson to be found in this drama. You cannot analyze Macbeth without analyzing yourself to some degree, and that goes a long way toward accounting for the Tragedy of Macbeth's literary importance and longevity.

Not dark enough, 02 Nov 2002
I was disappointed by this CD, particularly as the Naxos recording of King Lear with Schofield is so fine and the Richard III with Branagh a worthy production. Dillane, rated as a fine actor, fails badly to convey the steel and darkness of Macbeth for the early part of this play. Famous soliloquies,'Is this a dagger' fall flat. Later, he improves but fails yet to hit the heights. Finoa Shaw as Lady Macbeth, however, is magnificent. The CD also has some annoying quirks of recording, one scene sounding as if it has been recorded in a shower room

Cleverly crafted and tragicaly true, 28 Jul 1999
Shakespeare's cleverness shows through in Macbeth, in my mind one of his greatest plays. By appealing to ALL components of his audience, from James I (via Banquo's royal progeny) to the uneducated and superstitious groundlings (via witches and ghosts), Shakespeare created a timeless classic. Macbeth's tragic flaw, "vaulting ambition," ultimately causes his downfall; this downfall serves as an ultimate, meaningful, and universal warning: while ambition may cause a person to rise in status and prestige, too much ambition may cause a person to both lose touch with reality and improve his/her status by any means possible (including murder). Suspense and mystery, combined with mystical superstition, believable characters, eerily vivid descriptions, and universal themes, make Macbeth a wonderful play to read, to interpret, and to analyze.

Great Help, 18 Feb 2004
This book has helped my son tremendously. It is a must for anyone starting their GCSE course work. Delivery was prompt.

make up for beginners , 03 Aug 2007
this book is a good starting point of your looking for basic information. Not much for the expereinced artist. The stories and advice from established artists are a good edition. Overall an good book for a beginner or someone just out of college.

a must for all makeup students!!!!, 12 Nov 2006
this book was one of the many recommended to me whilst completing my makeup artist diploma

i think its a great book for students

it covers everything regarding fashion, photographic, theatrical and media makeup

it even discusses pros and cons of being a makeup artist, absolutely fab!

An inspiring guide, 13 Nov 2004
An inspiring guide for anyone considering or studying towards a career as a Make Up Artist. Well illustrated, very readable text, featuring the pros and cons of the industry and career progression of Make Up artists already in the profession. A good book.

Excellent book., 31 Jan 2003
This book is the best make up book I have read. Clear descriptions with lots of pictures and easy to read text make this a very accessible book. Every page is full of great illustrations and pictures with some truly stunning examples. I would find it hard to think of any area of the industry not covered within the book. Every area of make up is covered step by step. The case profiles are particular good, with "real" makeup artists at different points in their careers talking about the challenges and successes they have achieved. In summmary, a very clear, comprehensive and down to earth guide to make up and the make up industry that is truly "a complete guide".

Surprisingly good!, 22 Feb 2006
In all honesty I bought this book as it was on the book list for my drama degree not because it interested me. But as I am reading it I am finding that it is not only easy to read but it is actually enjoyable too! It is very east to sit and read a chapter without having to re-read over every paragraph because you have forgotten what you have just read! I would recommend this book to anyone who is working in schools or with the community as it has a lot of insight and many simple but effective games and ideas.

Essential manual for anyone in theatre, 09 Mar 1999
Roughly divided into three sections, Boal's Games for Actors and Non-Actors is by now a bible in the trade and is far more readable than the dense (but rewarding) Theatre of the Oppressed. The first part outlines, with relevant examples, the methods known as Image, Invisible and Forum Theatre and gives very practical advice to potential practitioners. In the second section, Boal takes us through a wealth of games and exercises which are devoted to integrating groups, exploring the senses, politicising the actor, releasing expression. They are invaluable and are stimulating (I have used them with diverse groups - trainers, actors, the deaf community, people with Down Syndrome, the elderly, teachers, theatre directors). The third section looks at problems arising from and issues associated with Forum theatre, and leads the way towards his subsequent work in Legislative Theatre. Adrian Jackson provides a wonderfully lucid translation which captures the energy and dynamism of Boal's voice.

not quite what youd expect, 17 Aug 2008
I bought this book as i was expecting something on the lines of the "Derren Brown" type of magic based round human phsycology. Although there are one or true clever little tricks in this book, there is very little that i would describe as mental magic. Most of the tricks are straight forward and some are even fairly good but there isnt enough on mentalism, cold reading and such like as the title suggests

Excellent guide to fundamental tricks, 21 Jul 2005
I think a few reviews have been a bit harsh - this book isn't going to turn you into Derren Brown overnight. What it will do is give you 20-30 tricks that you can use and develop that are reasonably simple to perform, some of which will really baffle even the most cynical. The book is well written and laid out, varied and easy to follow. If you want a sound grounding, it's definately worth a look and a complete steal at the price.

Hmmmm!?!??, 08 May 2005
I was a little disappointed with this one.
In general it is quite good if you want to impress with a few card tricks and stuff, but only few of the tricks were actually MIND READING tricks or were to do with MIND READING, most were terribly simple dinner table tricks that depended on a dodgy light of hand ability.
Good if you want a couple of nifty dinner table tricks...bad if you want to learn MIND READING....don't know why he put it in the title!!

Only OK but worth a look for amateurs, 24 Apr 2003
The tricks in this book are pretty basic as mentalism goes. Mentalism generally relies on people peeking what has been written/drawn, having multiple get-outs or reducing the choice and this book covers most of those methods pretty well. I'd say most of them are more puzzlers than potential evidence of something psychic. Maybe that's because I'm well versed in magic. It would certainly be a good starting point for someone new to mental magic.

Not all that great, really...., 26 Feb 2003
I can see that this book has it's fans, but I am ot one of them. The tricks are verging on child like, and the whole way the book is laid out is very ninteen sixties. In summary, all you budding Derren Browns need to look elsewhere....

Thoughts on Macbeth, 16 Jun 2008
Macbeth is the story of a general in the army of King Duncan of Scotland, who is approached by three witches, who plant the seeds of ruthless ambition in his mind, by predicting that he will be made King of Scotland.
He invites King Duncan to his castle, where encouraged by his, wife, he murders him.
He manipulates events to become King, and embarks on a reign of bloody tyranny, having all killed who stand in his way, or who he suspects may do so.
Macbeth is the story of tyranny and ambition. It is also the story of inner struggles and of Macbeth's own diseased imagination.

The primary villains of the play are the three witches. They do not simply predict, but indeed their soul aim is to sow evil and destruction wherever they can: " Fair is foul and foul is fair. Hover through the fog and filthy air."
Their motto seems to be an apt encapsulation of the dominant 21st century worldview. Indeed Orwell and Kafka where to predict a similar world where truth would be lies and lies would be truth, good would be evil and evil would be good, war would be peace and peace would be war. This twisted view of the witches is the worldview of Bolshevism and leftism today, where terrorists and dictators are lauded as `revolutionary heroes' and those who defend against the former are vilified and reviled.

The three witches of today are academia, the media and the United Nations.

Lady Macbeth is but a pale shadow of the witches. She encourages her husband in his evil, but is destroyed by her own guilt.
She needs to call on the evil spirits to `unsex' her and fill her with the direst cruelty, but at the end `all the perfumes of Arabia' cannot wash away the guilt of her deeds.
The plea to be unsexed is relevant to the sexlesness of the cruel Bolshevik women of the last century and of women terrorists and women leftwing academics. These are generally sexless and totally cruel in pursuing revolution and the destruction of Judeo-Christian civilization.

Lady Macbeth was outwardly beautiful but most of these unsexed women of the revolution have not. Unlike Lady Macbeth they have achieved the being of the three witches for whom they resemble.

The play is indeed full of rich irony- how Macbeth persuades the three murderers that Banquo is responsible for their misfortunes, twisting the truth to suit his unholy ends as the media so often does today.

Macbeth is brought to justice for his deeds. His arrogance is his downfall.

The benevolent influence though, in this story is the doctor of physic - the voice of compassion and religion who says while attempting to heal Lady Macbeth- "More she needs the divine than the physician-G-D, G-D forgive us all"


The greatest Lady Macbeth since Judi Dench, 22 Mar 2006
OK: so it's a bit odd to review a performance of "Macbeth" and single out Lady Macbeth. Just as it is to compare an audio performance to a live one - they are, of course, massively different.
That said, Fiona Shaw's performance as Lady Macbeth is astoundingly good and real. Every word feels thought and every phrase feels new. It really is a remarkable piece of characterisation and performance. Stephen Dillane, though not Shaw's match, is a thoughtful and aware Macbeth.
It's a must own, for Shaw alone, but there are many pleasures to this great rendition of a great play.

Lay on, Macduff!, 28 Nov 2002
While I was basically familiar with Shakespeare's Tragedy of Macbeth, I have only recently actually read the bard's brilliant play. The drama is quite dark and moody, but this atmosphere serves Shakespeare's purposes well. In Macbeth, we delve deeply into the heart of a true fiend, a man who would betray the king, who showers honors upon him, in a vainglorious snatch at power. Yet Macbeth is not 100% evil, nor is he a truly brave soul. He waxes and wanes over the execution of his nefarious plans, and he thereafter finds himself haunted by the blood on his own hands and by the ethereal spirits of the innocent men he has had murdered. On his own, Macbeth is much too cowardly to act so traitorously to his kind and his country. The source of true evil in these pages is the cold and calculating Lady Macbeth; it is she who plots the ultimate betrayal, forcefully pushes her husband to perform the dreadful acts, and cleans up after him when he loses his nerve. This extraordinary woman is the lynchpin of man's eternal fascination with this drama. I find her behavior a little hard to account for in the closing act, but she looms over every single male character we meet here, be he king, loyalist, nobleman, courtier, or soldier. Lady Macbeth is one of the most complicated, fascinating, unforgettable female characters in all of literature.

The plot does not seem to move along as well as Shakespeare's other most popular dramas, but I believe this is a result of the writer's intense focus on the human heart rather than the secondary activity that surrounds the related royal events. It is fascinating if sometimes rather disjointed reading. One problem I had with this play in particular was one of keeping up with each of the many characters that appear in the tale; the English of Shakespeare's time makes it difficult for me to form lasting impressions of the secondary characters, of whom there are many. Overall, though, Macbeth has just about everything a great drama needs: evil deeds, betrayal, murder, fighting, ghosts, omens, cowardice, heroism, love, and, as a delightful bonus, mysterious witches. Very many of Shakespeare's more famous quotes are also to be found in these pages, making it an important cultural resource for literary types. The play doesn't grab your attention and absorb you into its world the way Hamlet or Romeo and Juliet does, but this voyage deep into the heart of evil, jealousy, selfishness, and pride forces you to consider the state of your own deep-seated wishes and dreams, and for that reason there are as many interpretations of the essence of the tragedy as there are readers of this Shakespearean masterpiece. No man's fall can rival that of Macbeth's, and there is a great object lesson to be found in this drama. You cannot analyze Macbeth without analyzing yourself to some degree, and that goes a long way toward accounting for the Tragedy of Macbeth's literary importance and longevity.

Not dark enough, 02 Nov 2002
I was disappointed by this CD, particularly as the Naxos recording of King Lear with Schofield is so fine and the Richard III with Branagh a worthy production. Dillane, rated as a fine actor, fails badly to convey the steel and darkness of Macbeth for the early part of this play. Famous soliloquies,'Is this a dagger' fall flat. Later, he improves but fails yet to hit the heights. Finoa Shaw as Lady Macbeth, however, is magnificent. The CD also has some annoying quirks of recording, one scene sounding as if it has been recorded in a shower room

Cleverly crafted and tragicaly true, 28 Jul 1999
Shakespeare's cleverness shows through in Macbeth, in my mind one of his greatest plays. By appealing to ALL components of his audience, from James I (via Banquo's royal progeny) to the uneducated and superstitious groundlings (via witches and ghosts), Shakespeare created a timeless classic. Macbeth's tragic flaw, "vaulting ambition," ultimately causes his downfall; this downfall serves as an ultimate, meaningful, and universal warning: while ambition may cause a person to rise in status and prestige, too much ambition may cause a person to both lose touch with reality and improve his/her status by any means possible (including murder). Suspense and mystery, combined with mystical superstition, believable characters, eerily vivid descriptions, and universal themes, make Macbeth a wonderful play to read, to interpret, and to analyze.

Great Help, 18 Feb 2004
This book has helped my son tremendously. It is a must for anyone starting their GCSE course work. Delivery was prompt.

make up for beginners , 03 Aug 2007
this book is a good starting point of your looking for basic information. Not much for the expereinced artist. The stories and advice from established artists are a good edition. Overall an good book for a beginner or someone just out of college.

a must for all makeup students!!!!, 12 Nov 2006
this book was one of the many recommended to me whilst completing my makeup artist diploma

i think its a great book for students

it covers everything regarding fashion, photographic, theatrical and media makeup

it even discusses pros and cons of being a makeup artist, absolutely fab!

An inspiring guide, 13 Nov 2004
An inspiring guide for anyone considering or studying towards a career as a Make Up Artist. Well illustrated, very readable text, featuring the pros and cons of the industry and career progression of Make Up artists already in the profession. A good book.

Excellent book., 31 Jan 2003
This book is the best make up book I have read. Clear descriptions with lots of pictures and easy to read text make this a very accessible book. Every page is full of great illustrations and pictures with some truly stunning examples. I would find it hard to think of any area of the industry not covered within the book. Every area of make up is covered step by step. The case profiles are particular good, with "real" makeup artists at different points in their careers talking about the challenges and successes they have achieved. In summmary, a very clear, comprehensive and down to earth guide to make up and the make up industry that is truly "a complete guide".

Surprisingly good!, 22 Feb 2006
In all honesty I bought this book as it was on the book list for my drama degree not because it interested me. But as I am reading it I am finding that it is not only easy to read but it is actually enjoyable too! It is very east to sit and read a chapter without having to re-read over every paragraph because you have forgotten what you have just read! I would recommend this book to anyone who is working in schools or with the community as it has a lot of insight and many simple but effective games and ideas.

Essential manual for anyone in theatre, 09 Mar 1999
Roughly divided into three sections, Boal's Games for Actors and Non-Actors is by now a bible in the trade and is far more readable than the dense (but rewarding) Theatre of the Oppressed. The first part outlines, with relevant examples, the methods known as Image, Invisible and Forum Theatre and gives very practical advice to potential practitioners. In the second section, Boal takes us through a wealth of games and exercises which are devoted to integrating groups, exploring the senses, politicising the actor, releasing expression. They are invaluable and are stimulating (I have used them with diverse groups - trainers, actors, the deaf community, people with Down Syndrome, the elderly, teachers, theatre directors). The third section looks at problems arising from and issues associated with Forum theatre, and leads the way towards his subsequent work in Legislative Theatre. Adrian Jackson provides a wonderfully lucid translation which captures the energy and dynamism of Boal's voice.

not quite what youd expect, 17 Aug 2008
I bought this book as i was expecting something on the lines of the "Derren Brown" type of magic based round human phsycology. Although there are one or true clever little tricks in this book, there is very little that i would describe as mental magic. Most of the tricks are straight forward and some are even fairly good but there isnt enough on mentalism, cold reading and such like as the title suggests

Excellent guide to fundamental tricks, 21 Jul 2005
I think a few reviews have been a bit harsh - this book isn't going to turn you into Derren Brown overnight. What it will do is give you 20-30 tricks that you can use and develop that are reasonably simple to perform, some of which will really baffle even the most cynical. The book is well written and laid out, varied and easy to follow. If you want a sound grounding, it's definately worth a look and a complete steal at the price.

Hmmmm!?!??, 08 May 2005
I was a little disappointed with this one.
In general it is quite good if you want to impress with a few card tricks and stuff, but only few of the tricks were actually MIND READING tricks or were to do with MIND READING, most were terribly simple dinner table tricks that depended on a dodgy light of hand ability.
Good if you want a couple of nifty dinner table tricks...bad if you want to learn MIND READING....don't know why he put it in the title!!

Only OK but worth a look for amateurs, 24 Apr 2003
The tricks in this book are pretty basic as mentalism goes. Mentalism generally relies on people peeking what has been written/drawn, having multiple get-outs or reducing the choice and this book covers most of those methods pretty well. I'd say most of them are more puzzlers than potential evidence of something psychic. Maybe that's because I'm well versed in magic. It would certainly be a good starting point for someone new to mental magic.

Not all that great, really...., 26 Feb 2003
I can see that this book has it's fans, but I am ot one of them. The tricks are verging on child like, and the whole way the book is laid out is very ninteen sixties. In summary, all you budding Derren Browns need to look elsewhere....

An encyclopedia of coin tricks!, 13 Mar 2008
There are many, many coin tricks in this book and if you
learnt them all you'd never be short of material. The only
criticism of this book that I have is that there is no indication
given of HOW to practice the tricks in order to improve ...


Not recommended for complete beginners, 02 Apr 2003
Unlike some of the reviewers here, I question this being a good book for novices. Many of the sleights are quite complex, and someone starting out in magic, or younger magicians, might become dispirited and frustrated with the difficulty of some of the moves. This is a book for adults who can already demonstrate a little skill in doing a few basic tricks, and are willing to offer the time and committment necessary to take their interest to the level that this book is aimed at. For them, this will prove an excellent and invaluable guide, with clear instructions and diagrams. The book only occasionally feels slightly dated when some of the coin vanishes, for instance, assume that all men are still wearing suits with breast pockets and trouser leg cuffs etc - so jeans and a T-shirt may not be much use to you! So if you're already very keen and have a little experience of magic - certainly buy it. If you're simply curious, and are entirely new to coin tricks, start with something simpler.

Must Buy, for serious magicians., 17 Dec 2002
Beware; serious coin manipulation with real coins requires practice and skill. This book covers just about every move and trick you can perform with coins including the use of trick coins and full performance routines. "Some" tricks can be done immediately. I have amazed many people with the coin through a hanky routine. A stunning trick that can be learnt in minutes. The book is worth the cost for this one trick alone. The book is a small paperback, with hand drawn illustrations. No big glossy pictures - just facts. Absolutely loads of stuff and a lifetime of reading (and practicing). Recommended to me by a magician, who astounded me into rushing out and buying it. You'll never learn everything in it, but from a clumsy novice - to a dextrous expert, everyone will learn from this valuable resource. - The bible. !

Excellent, 30 Aug 2001
This really is a good book, easy to understand with excellent diagrams. The tricks inside really do work and really do impress, some of them are very easy to master and others are not, meaning that you can enjoy the book for quite a while as you gradually improve your skills. It is not however the final word in coin magic I have found that some of the sleights mention can be better executed in other ways, but this is just down to personal preference and others may disagree.

Great for beginners and professionals alike, 11 Jan 2000
If you are new to magic this a great way to start. With great illustrations and descriptions, this makes learning sleights and other techniques easy. For advanced magicians, this book is an essential reference guide. Good work

Thoughts on Macbeth, 16 Jun 2008
Macbeth is the story of a general in the army of King Duncan of Scotland, who is approached by three witches, who plant the seeds of ruthless ambition in his mind, by predicting that he will be made King of Scotland.
He invites King Duncan to his castle, where encouraged by his, wife, he murders him.
He manipulates events to become King, and embarks on a reign of bloody tyranny, having all killed who stand in his way, or who he suspects may do so.
Macbeth is the story of tyranny and ambition. It is also the story of inner struggles and of Macbeth's own diseased imagination.

The primary villains of the play are the three witches. They do not simply predict, but indeed their soul aim is to sow evil and destruction wherever they can: " Fair is foul and foul is fair. Hover through the fog and filthy air."
Their motto seems to be an apt encapsulation of the dominant 21st century worldview. Indeed Orwell and Kafka where to predict a similar world where truth would be lies and lies would be truth, good would be evil and evil would be good, war would be peace and peace would be war. This twisted view of the witches is the worldview of Bolshevism and leftism today, where terrorists and dictators are lauded as `revolutionary heroes' and those who defend against the former are vilified and reviled.

The three witches of today are academia, the media and the United Nations.

Lady Macbeth is but a pale shadow of the witches. She encourages her husband in his evil, but is destroyed by her own guilt.
She needs to call on the evil spirits to `unsex' her and fill her with the direst cruelty, but at the end `all the perfumes of Arabia' cannot wash away the guilt of her deeds.
The plea to be unsexed is relevant to the sexlesness of the cruel Bolshevik women of the last century and of women terrorists and women leftwing academics. These are generally sexless and totally cruel in pursuing revolution and the destruction of Judeo-Christian civilization.

Lady Macbeth was outwardly beautiful but most of these unsexed women of the revolution have not. Unlike Lady Macbeth they have achieved the being of the three witches for whom they resemble.

The play is indeed full of rich irony- how Macbeth persuades the three murderers that Banquo is responsible for their misfortunes, twisting the truth to suit his unholy ends as the media so often does today.

Macbeth is brought to justice for his deeds. His arrogance is his downfall.

The benevolent influence though, in this story is the doctor of physic - the voice of compassion and religion who says while attempting to heal Lady Macbeth- "More she needs the divine than the physician-G-D, G-D forgive us all"


The greatest Lady Macbeth since Judi Dench, 22 Mar 2006
OK: so it's a bit odd to review a performance of "Macbeth" and single out Lady Macbeth. Just as it is to compare an audio performance to a live one - they are, of course, massively different.
That said, Fiona Shaw's performance as Lady Macbeth is astoundingly good and real. Every word feels thought and every phrase feels new. It really is a remarkable piece of characterisation and performance. Stephen Dillane, though not Shaw's match, is a thoughtful and aware Macbeth.
It's a must own, for Shaw alone, but there are many pleasures to this great rendition of a great play.

Lay on, Macduff!, 28 Nov 2002
While I was basically familiar with Shakespeare's Tragedy of Macbeth, I have only recently actually read the bard's brilliant play. The drama is quite dark and moody, but this atmosphere serves Shakespeare's purposes well. In Macbeth, we delve deeply into the heart of a true fiend, a man who would betray the king, who showers honors upon him, in a vainglorious snatch at power. Yet Macbeth is not 100% evil, nor is he a truly brave soul. He waxes and wanes over the execution of his nefarious plans, and he thereafter finds himself haunted by the blood on his own hands and by the ethereal spirits of the innocent men he has had murdered. On his own, Macbeth is much too cowardly to act so traitorously to his kind and his country. The source of true evil in these pages is the cold and calculating Lady Macbeth; it is she who plots the ultimate betrayal, forcefully pushes her husband to perform the dreadful acts, and cleans up after him when he loses his nerve. This extraordinary woman is the lynchpin of man's eternal fascination with this drama. I find her behavior a little hard to account for in the closing act, but she looms over every single male character we meet here, be he king, loyalist, nobleman, courtier, or soldier. Lady Macbeth is one of the most complicated, fascinating, unforgettable female characters in all of literature.

The plot does not seem to move along as well as Shakespeare's other most popular dramas, but I believe this is a result of the writer's intense focus on the human heart rather than the secondary activity that surrounds the related royal events. It is fascinating if sometimes rather disjointed reading. One problem I had with this play in particular was one of keeping up with each of the many characters that appear in the tale; the English of Shakespeare's time makes it difficult for me to form lasting impressions of the secondary characters, of whom there are many. Overall, though, Macbeth has just about everything a great drama needs: evil deeds, betrayal, murder, fighting, ghosts, omens, cowardice, heroism, love, and, as a delightful bonus, mysterious witches. Very many of Shakespeare's more famous quotes are also to be found in these pages, making it an important cultural resource for literary types. The play doesn't grab your attention and absorb you into its world the way Hamlet or Romeo and Juliet does, but this voyage deep into the heart of evil, jealousy, selfishness, and pride forces you to consider the state of your own deep-seated wishes and dreams, and for that reason there are as many interpretations of the essence of the tragedy as there are readers of this Shakespearean masterpiece. No man's fall can rival that of Macbeth's, and there is a great object lesson to be found in this drama. You cannot analyze Macbeth without analyzing yourself to some degree, and that goes a long way toward accounting for the Tragedy of Macbeth's literary importance and longevity.

Not dark enough, 02 Nov 2002
I was disappointed by this CD, particularly as the Naxos recording of King Lear with Schofield is so fine and the Richard III with Branagh a worthy production. Dillane, rated as a fine actor, fails badly to convey the steel and darkness of Macbeth for the early part of this play. Famous soliloquies,'Is this a dagger' fall flat. Later, he improves but fails yet to hit the heights. Finoa Shaw as Lady Macbeth, however, is magnificent. The CD also has some annoying quirks of recording, one scene sounding as if it has been recorded in a shower room

Cleverly crafted and tragicaly true, 28 Jul 1999
Shakespeare's cleverness shows through in Macbeth, in my mind one of his greatest plays. By appealing to ALL components of his audience, from James I (via Banquo's royal progeny) to the uneducated and superstitious groundlings (via witches and ghosts), Shakespeare created a timeless classic. Macbeth's tragic flaw, "vaulting ambition," ultimately causes his downfall; this downfall serves as an ultimate, meaningful, and universal warning: while ambition may cause a person to rise in status and prestige, too much ambition may cause a person to both lose touch with reality and improve his/her status by any means possible (including murder). Suspense and mystery, combined with mystical superstition, believable characters, eerily vivid descriptions, and universal themes, make Macbeth a wonderful play to read, to interpret, and to analyze.

Great Help, 18 Feb 2004
This book has helped my son tremendously. It is a must for anyone starting their GCSE course work. Delivery was prompt.

make up for beginners , 03 Aug 2007
this book is a good starting point of your looking for basic information. Not much for the expereinced artist. The stories and advice from established artists are a good edition. Overall an good book for a beginner or someone just out of college.

a must for all makeup students!!!!, 12 Nov 2006
this book was one of the many recommended to me whilst completing my makeup artist diploma

i think its a great book for students

it covers everything regarding fashion, photographic, theatrical and media makeup

it even discusses pros and cons of being a makeup artist, absolutely fab!

An inspiring guide, 13 Nov 2004
An inspiring guide for anyone considering or studying towards a career as a Make Up Artist. Well illustrated, very readable text, featuring the pros and cons of the industry and career progression of Make Up artists already in the profession. A good book.

Excellent book., 31 Jan 2003
This book is the best make up book I have read. Clear descriptions with lots of pictures and easy to read text make this a very accessible book. Every page is full of great illustrations and pictures with some truly stunning examples. I would find it hard to think of any area of the industry not covered within the book. Every area of make up is covered step by step. The case profiles are particular good, with "real" makeup artists at different points in their careers talking about the challenges and successes they have achieved. In summmary, a very clear, comprehensive and down to earth guide to make up and the make up industry that is truly "a complete guide".

Surprisingly good!, 22 Feb 2006
In all honesty I bought this book as it was on the book list for my drama degree not because it interested me. But as I am reading it I am finding that it is not only easy to read but it is actually enjoyable too! It is very east to sit and read a chapter without having to re-read over every paragraph because you have forgotten what you have just read! I would recommend this book to anyone who is working in schools or with the community as it has a lot of insight and many simple but effective games and ideas.

Essential manual for anyone in theatre, 09 Mar 1999
Roughly divided into three sections, Boal's Games for Actors and Non-Actors is by now a bible in the trade and is far more readable than the dense (but rewarding) Theatre of the Oppressed. The first part outlines, with relevant examples, the methods known as Image, Invisible and Forum Theatre and gives very practical advice to potential practitioners. In the second section, Boal takes us through a wealth of games and exercises which are devoted to integrating groups, exploring the senses, politicising the actor, releasing expression. They are invaluable and are stimulating (I have used them with diverse groups - trainers, actors, the deaf community, people with Down Syndrome, the elderly, teachers, theatre directors). The third section looks at problems arising from and issues associated with Forum theatre, and leads the way towards his subsequent work in Legislative Theatre. Adrian Jackson provides a wonderfully lucid translation which captures the energy and dynamism of Boal's voice.

not quite what youd expect, 17 Aug 2008
I bought this book as i was expecting something on the lines of the "Derren Brown" type of magic based round human phsycology. Although there are one or true clever little tricks in this book, there is very little that i would describe as mental magic. Most of the tricks are straight forward and some are even fairly good but there isnt enough on mentalism, cold reading and such like as the title suggests

Excellent guide to fundamental tricks, 21 Jul 2005
I think a few reviews have been a bit harsh - this book isn't going to turn you into Derren Brown overnight. What it will do is give you 20-30 tricks that you can use and develop that are reasonably simple to perform, some of which will really baffle even the most cynical. The book is well written and laid out, varied and easy to follow. If you want a sound grounding, it's definately worth a look and a complete steal at the price.

Hmmmm!?!??, 08 May 2005
I was a little disappointed with this one.
In general it is quite good if you want to impress with a few card tricks and stuff, but only few of the tricks were actually MIND READING tricks or were to do with MIND READING, most were terribly simple dinner table tricks that depended on a dodgy light of hand ability.
Good if you want a couple of nifty dinner table tricks...bad if you want to learn MIND READING....don't know why he put it in the title!!

Only OK but worth a look for amateurs, 24 Apr 2003
The tricks in this book are pretty basic as mentalism goes. Mentalism generally relies on people peeking what has been written/drawn, having multiple get-outs or reducing the choice and this book covers most of those methods pretty well. I'd say most of them are more puzzlers than potential evidence of something psychic. Maybe that's because I'm well versed in magic. It would certainly be a good starting point for someone new to mental magic.

Not all that great, really...., 26 Feb 2003
I can see that this book has it's fans, but I am ot one of them. The tricks are verging on child like, and the whole way the book is laid out is very ninteen sixties. In summary, all you budding Derren Browns need to look elsewhere....

An encyclopedia of coin tricks!, 13 Mar 2008
There are many, many coin tricks in this book and if you
learnt them all you'd never be short of material. The only
criticism of this book that I have is that there is no indication
given of HOW to practice the tricks in order to improve ...


Not recommended for complete beginners, 02 Apr 2003
Unlike some of the reviewers here, I question this being a good book for novices. Many of the sleights are quite complex, and someone starting out in magic, or younger magicians, might become dispirited and frustrated with the difficulty of some of the moves. This is a book for adults who can already demonstrate a little skill in doing a few basic tricks, and are willing to offer the time and committment necessary to take their interest to the level that this book is aimed at. For them, this will prove an excellent and invaluable guide, with clear instructions and diagrams. The book only occasionally feels slightly dated when some of the coin vanishes, for instance, assume that all men are still wearing suits with breast pockets and trouser leg cuffs etc - so jeans and a T-shirt may not be much use to you! So if you're already very keen and have a little experience of magic - certainly buy it. If you're simply curious, and are entirely new to coin tricks, start with something simpler.

Must Buy, for serious magicians., 17 Dec 2002
Beware; serious coin manipulation with real coins requires practice and skill. This book covers just about every move and trick you can perform with coins including the use of trick coins and full performance routines. "Some" tricks can be done immediately. I have amazed many people with the coin through a hanky routine. A stunning trick that can be learnt in minutes. The book is worth the cost for this one trick alone. The book is a small paperback, with hand drawn illustrations. No big glossy pictures - just facts. Absolutely loads of stuff and a lifetime of reading (and practicing). Recommended to me by a magician, who astounded me into rushing out and buying it. You'll never learn everything in it, but from a clumsy novice - to a dextrous expert, everyone will learn from this valuable resource. - The bible. !

Excellent, 30 Aug 2001
This really is a good book, easy to understand with excellent diagrams. The tricks inside really do work and really do impress, some of them are very easy to master and others are not, meaning that you can enjoy the book for quite a while as you gradually improve your skills. It is not however the final word in coin magic I have found that some of the sleights mention can be better executed in other ways, but this is just down to personal preference and others may disagree.

Great for beginners and professionals alike, 11 Jan 2000
If you are new to magic this a great way to start. With great illustrations and descriptions, this makes learning sleights and other techniques easy. For advanced magicians, this book is an essential reference guide. Good work

its good to make up, 23 May 2004
very easy to read and very easy to understand.
the book shows detailed step by step pictures of the make up effect.
if your intersted in fx make up buy this book!

A must for anyone new to special effects makeup!, 19 Nov 2003
In recent months my intention to run a horror based murder mystery event for an adult audience has led me into researching special effects make-up. My search led to this book, and I ordered my copy and awaited its arrival.

What can I say about this book? In a word; Excellent!

This valuable book will teach you how to do everything from a black eye to a severed limb.. The effects in this book are gory and incredible to look at, be warned some may turn your stomach.
Not only that but with the step by step instructions I've discovered that in fact this kind of make-up isn't that difficult at all!

I've already experimented with several of the effects and the looks of disgust from friends can only vouch for the realistic nature this book demonstrates. The book also advises on how to do the effects both simply and cheaply but also gives options to use more advanced techniques and materials to enhance the results.

The book does have some specific character make-up instructions in the back to do such characters as Freddie Kruger, Dracula or Pinhead but to be honest most of these are pretty mediocre and the results shown look very amateurish which in my mind is what takes this book from a 5 to a 4. There are however still a few character effects that would perhaps give ideas and tips so its not all wasted.

This book really is a must for any amateur interested in creating effects such as burns, cuts, severed digits or limbs, bullet holes or a whole host of wound style effects.

Thoughts on Macbeth, 16 Jun 2008
Macbeth is the story of a general in the army of King Duncan of Scotland, who is approached by three witches, who plant the seeds of ruthless ambition in his mind, by predicting that he will be made King of Scotland.
He invites King Duncan to his castle, where encouraged by his, wife, he murders him.
He manipulates events to become King, and embarks on a reign of bloody tyranny, having all killed who stand in his way, or who he suspects may do so.
Macbeth is the story of tyranny and ambition. It is also the story of inner struggles and of Macbeth's own diseased imagination.

The primary villains of the play are the three witches. They do not simply predict, but indeed their soul aim is to sow evil and destruction wherever they can: " Fair is foul and foul is fair. Hover through the fog and filthy air."
Their motto seems to be an apt encapsulation of the dominant 21st century worldview. Indeed Orwell and Kafka where to predict a similar world where truth would be lies and lies would be truth, good would be evil and evil would be good, war would be peace and peace would be war. This twisted view of the witches is the worldview of Bolshevism and leftism today, where terrorists and dictators are lauded as `revolutionary heroes' and those who defend against the former are vilified and reviled.

The three witches of today are academia, the media and the United Nations.

Lady Macbeth is but a pale shadow of the witches. She encourages her husband in his evil, but is destroyed by her own guilt.
She needs to call on the evil spirits to `unsex' her and fill her with the direst cruelty, but at the end `all the perfumes of Arabia' cannot wash away the guilt of her deeds.
The plea to be unsexed is relevant to the sexlesness of the cruel Bolshevik women of the last century and of women terrorists and women leftwing academics. These are generally sexless and totally cruel in pursuing revolution and the destruction of Judeo-Christian civilization.

Lady Macbeth was outwardly beautiful but most of these unsexed women of the revolution have not. Unlike Lady Macbeth they have achieved the being of the three witches for whom they resemble.

The play is indeed full of rich irony- how Macbeth persuades the three murderers that Banquo is responsible for their misfortunes, twisting the truth to suit his unholy ends as the media so often does today.

Macbeth is brought to justice for his deeds. His arrogance is his downfall.

The benevolent influence though, in this story is the doctor of physic - the voice of compassion and religion who says while attempting to heal Lady Macbeth- "More she needs the divine than the physician-G-D, G-D forgive us all"


The greatest Lady Macbeth since Judi Dench, 22 Mar 2006
OK: so it's a bit odd to review a performance of "Macbeth" and single out Lady Macbeth. Just as it is to compare an audio performance to a live one - they are, of course, massively different.
That said, Fiona Shaw's performance as Lady Macbeth is astoundingly good and real. Every word feels thought and every phrase feels new. It really is a remarkable piece of characterisation and performance. Stephen Dillane, though not Shaw's match, is a thoughtful and aware Macbeth.
It's a must own, for Shaw alone, but there are many pleasures to this great rendition of a great play.

Lay on, Macduff!, 28 Nov 2002
While I was basically familiar with Shakespeare's Tragedy of Macbeth, I have only recently actually read the bard's brilliant play. The drama is quite dark and moody, but this atmosphere serves Shakespeare's purposes well. In Macbeth, we delve deeply into the heart of a true fiend, a man who would betray the king, who showers honors upon him, in a