The One That Got Away: Macbeth, RSC, 1999

Even a willingness to queue for returns and a place on every theatre company’s mailing list can’t guarantee you’ll always get lucky. Missing Adrian Lester’s Hamlet and Michael Gambon’s Falstaff are particular regrets. But none looms larger than Anthony Sher and Harriet Walter in the Scottish Play. It was the first Shakespeare I read and fell in love with aged 12, but I’ve never seen a truly great performance of it in the theatre. The filmed version for Channel 4 is a welcome permanent record of how dark and powerful Gregory Doran’s production was. But there’s still no substitute for actually being there…