Australian theatre companies generally take negative reviews on the chin. The rough with the smooth.

But some criticism cuts too deep, it seems.

A recent review in Melbourne’s The Age by critic Cameron Woodhead has provoked Bell Shakespeare Company into issuing a rare public rebuke of the writer’s language and critique of the work of Hazem Shammas, currently playing the title role in its production of Macbeth.

Hazem Shammas and Jessica Tovey in Bell Shakespeare’s Macbeth. Photo © Brett Boardman

Among the barbs in Woodhead’s stinging two-star review were several pointing toward Shammas’s interpretation of the role.

“Shammas delivers an unhinged, almost gleefully vicious tyrant rather than a war hero who succumbs to moral corruption and a creeping desensitisation to violence. He also channels uncontrolled distress that stretches the verse to the point of medieval torture …”

Worse came later: “Hazem Shammas’ incarnation of Macbeth belongs in the Richard III ward of Monty Python’s Hospital for Over-Acting.”

In a statement released on its social media channel, Bell Shakespeare shot back:

“Cameron’s targeting of the lead actor, Hazem Shammas was, in our view, belittling and contemptuous. The lampooning included language such as, ‘Monty Python’s Hospital for...