I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again - never is there a longer night than when you’re watching a badly done amateur dramatic show.

In terms of the pain threshold of terrible theatre, it goes:

- Musicals (pain rating: being hungover on a hot coach on a windy road)

- Panto (pain rating: stubbing your toe while simultaneously getting jabbed in the eye by a fork)

- Shakespeare: (pain rating: your grandad’s funeral).

Putting on Shakespeare, particularly MacBeth, requires courage.

If you get it wrong, you’re at the risk of bludgeoning the audience to death with bad Scottish accents, boredom, and confusing ye olde speak that leaves them wondering ‘what the hell is going on?’

But, once again, with Tony Eccles at the helm, in collaboration with Parodos Theatre Company, and the likes of Tom Iain Dixon playing the title role, I felt nothing but confident.

From the second the show started it was dramatic.

The set is simple but effective, giving National Theatre vibes and the use of lighting and sound from start to finish is second-to-none.

Rather than taking a play and plonking it on a stage, Eccles turns it into an entirely holistic production, with each aspect making the overall result bigger than the sum of its parts.

Tom Iain Dixon IS MacBeth. Him and Lady MacBeth (played by Gemma Varnom) are sensational. Not only in their Scottish accents, but in their slow descent into cruelty and madness.

I’m going to list some personal highlights of mine:

- The Three Witches (played by Máire Stephens, Saoirse Coyle-Carroll and Lisa Davis). I was blown away by them - their movement, their wonderful cackles, and their whole look. They open the show and THAT is the way to open a show.

- King Duncan’s (played by Alexander Duncan – a descendant I assume) wonderful use of iambic pentameter in the delivery of his lines. It made the words easy to understand and is the sign of a good Shakespearean actor.

- Lady McDuff’s (played by Lisa Smith) scream. It is bloodcurdling and will likely haunt you until the grave.

- The Porter, played by Toby Smith. As comedically brilliant as he was at his Shakespearean delivery.

- A little relieving theatre magic (in more ways than one) that happens during The Porter’s monologue.

- The use of ambience background sound for the night scenes to make it feel more atmospheric and realistic.

One thing I will say - it’s long. Very long. Because it’s Shakespeare.

Maybe he was compensating for something by writing lengthy plays. So, those with small bladders, be warned.

I often say the Gaiety is too big for a straight play but this version of MacBeth proves me wrong because it uses the entire space – the stalls, the orchestra pit, the stage itself (obviously), contrasting levels with the heights of a set, the trapdoor - allowing the theatre to flex its long-unused muscles and creating an energy that filled the audience seating.

It’s the best straight play I’ve ever seen in the island.