mac deaf and the long arm of the law

Actually, it was an eventful first night all round and I presume there will be a long and detailed 'debrief' today.
Firstly the good news. There was a decent-sized audience, the acting - a mixture of the experienced and just-out-of-college young thesps - was generally good to excellent and the setting and symbolism was well thought out and often stylish.
Lodestar should be pleased with that.
But oh, what a shame most people just couldn't hear enough to enjoy the evening.
As I said in my review in today's Echo, the acoustics in Liverpool Cathedral played havoc with the dialogue - and it seemed the further away from the action you got the worse it was.
It was a double whammy for those further back as the only bits that didn't echo around the cavernous building were the quiet passages, and they couldn't hear them clearly either!!
The first half of the evening was inside the cathedral, and the second in the old burial ground of St James's Gardens.
Audience members hovvered in the doorway, not really knowing if they should strike off on their own into the darkness or wait to be led down there.
Unfortunately there was no one giving any instructions, which meant the interval dragged on and on while we hung around chatting and triying to decide if we had enough thermals, gloves, blankets and socks to sit in the freezing August night.
As a veteran of the Ludlow Festival I wasn't take any chances and had come with a woolly hat, waterproof, boots, umbrella, picnic rug and torch. It wasn't going to win any glamour stakes, but when you're sitting in a cemetery in light drizzle at 10.30 at night, frankly, who cares?
Evenually things started up again, and hallelujah we could hear!
It may as well have been the Comedy of Errors though because at that point the action switched from the paved 'stage' area in front of William Huskisson's mausoleum to an alcove in the far left cemetery wall.
All very atmospheric, but not much use when half the audience are sitting on the floor and half are standing up. The standing up section moved, rather like a penalty shoot out wall, and blocked the view for everyone else.
Thus I heard the Three Witches intoning their "hubble bubble" spell and Lady Macbeth's famous "out damn spot" speech, but I couldn't see any of them....
The outdoor performance did go down a storm though with several unsuspecting dog walkers taking a late night stroll, at least one of which stayed for the entire second half and even his dog applauded. Well, barked.
It was shortly before the end, at some point when Macbeth and Macduff were fighting hammer and tong, that the police siren started whining in the distance.
Of course, it could have been simply coincidence, but it definitely got closer then stopped, while I was reliably informed a pair of cheerful-looking bobbies were seen in the cemetery by audiences on their way out.
I can only assume someone living nearby thought there was a fight going on and called in the police.
Lodestar and its actors should take that as the ultimate compliment.