Sophie Fiennes’ immersive film offers privileged access to the experience of making theatre with pioneering practitioners, Declan Donnellan and Nick Ormerod of Cheek By Jowl.

In a derelict Gothic mansion on the outskirts of London, we join eight actors – four Macbeths and four Lady Macbeths – for eleven days with Cheek By Jowl. Working in pairs, they investigate key scenes and soliloquies from Shakespeare’s Scottish tragedy.

But this film is not about the play. It’s about being offered a different position from which to view acting and theatre – of seeing text newly animated in ways more subtle, surprising, revelatory and various than even the most dedicated theatre-goers might have considered possible. Within the labyrinthine remains of the building, we watch with increasing fascination as actors and spaces combine to give Shakespeare’s words seemingly infinite new lives. The film is entirely observational.

It is shot by Sophie Fiennes, who operates as a single shooter from inside the ensemble, and its narrative construction flows along the narrative lines of the play. Throughout, Donnellan’s interactions with the actors serve simultaneously as a guide for the film’s audience, using humor, insight, and challenge to open our eyes to fresh possibilities.

“If you’ve ever dreamed of interpreting the immortal words of the Bard while treading the boards, director Sophie Fiennes’ (Over Your Cities Grass Will Grow, Grace Jones: Bloodlight and Bami) observational documentary Acting is a must-watch.”

– Betsy Bozdeck, AWFJ

NYC Movie Guru:

“Acting is an illuminating and gently engrossing documentary about 8 actors performing Shakespeare’s Macbeth with the guidance of Declan Donnellan and Nick Ormerod, co-artistic directors of Cheek By Jowl, an a theatre company. Director Sophie Fiennes uses a laissez-faire approach sans talking-head interviews, archival footage, or including herself in the film.”

– Avi Offer