Nor is it usual to have your ticket is checked by sinister individuals wearing sunglasses and army fatigues, who demand photographic ID and tell you to hurry up.

But then again, Out of Joint isn't your average touring theatre company.

Director and founder Max Stafford-Clark has a reputation for the unconventional - and this promenade production is about as far removed from a traditional evening among the over 60s and their tubs of ice cream as you are likely to get.

Macbeth is known widely as 'the Scottish play', and so at first glance setting this production in Africa seems a little odd. It becomes less so, though, when you consider the main themes of Shakespeare's shortest tragedy; civil war, genocide and corruption. You only have to look at Rwanda and Sierra Leone in the 1990s, Liberia in the late 1980s, Uganda in the 1970s and, more recently, Sudan, to see the glaring parallels. It's also well documented that infamous Ugandan leader Idi Amin had a fascination with all things Caledonian. His enthusiasm for such that he even learned to play the bagpipes and decked some of his soldiers out in kilts.

This alternative production commences in a large, dark and dusty room within the mill. As the audience enters, around one dozen actors begin to sing, beat a variety of instruments and dance. Rubbish lies strewn all around. The African rhythm builds in a crescendo, a witchdoctor flails his arms and sinister shadows flicker against the bare brick walls.

Having never previously read or seen this play, I was completely baffled by the French dialogue at the start of this play. The famous witches often revert to Gallic tongue during the performance, reflecting the fact French is the native language in many parts of Africa. But as someone who believes theatre should be accessible to everyone - not just those who have studied a play or excel at a foreign language - I found this annoying and frustrating in the extreme.

After the opening exchanges of this play, the audience is ushered into another large room, with an array of benches and chairs arranged around a square performance space. But with characters hollering from all corners of the arena - some in thick French accents - words are readily lost and understanding is hard to grasp. The players' performances are reasonable enough - Danny Sapani, as Macbeth, is probably the pick of the bunch, although he lacks the powerful persona of a monarch - but lines are generally poured out without recourse to feeling or physical expression.

There is an aching lack of subtlety - and also perhaps comprehension - in the delivery. Reactions to deaths frequently stray into the melodramatic. At one point the action is dragged kicking and screaming into the modern world, as Seyton (Christopher Ryman) engages the audience on Microsoft Windows, websites and CD-Roms. Quite why is anyone's guess.

The promenade style does work very well in some places. At one stage the audience is ushered to join a banquet with the characters and served with wine and food, which sucks you into the high drama that unfolds. But at other times it is downright distracting and prevents the production from settling into any rhythm and flow. Characters bark lines from all angles, necessitating a twisting and craning of the neck and body that quickly becomes too much like hard work.

At just over two hours long without an interval, this performance is probably best suited to those who know the text. As someone unfamiliar with the play, I can't tell you anything about the content or significance of the final speech. Sure, the thumping drums and Scottish pipes are dramatic and stirring. But the fact they drown every single word of the closing lines of this famous play leads me to conclude that style has won a resounding victory over substance.