Sun 4/15
Tony Soprano and his gang were sissies compared to Macbeth and his thugs. In its latest presentation of the gory tragedy that is Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Great Lakes Theater has once again semi-transformed into a “mini-Globe” theater, paying homage to Shakespeare’s own London stage. For this production, directed by Charles Fee, some audience members are onstage (and to the back), but the rest of us stay seated in front. We did on occasion dodge actors flying on and off down the aisles beside us.
Macbeth, written late in Shakespeare’s career (some argue with a little “help” to jazz up the action), seems as subtle as a sledgehammer. It’s full of violence, anti-Scottish sentiments (understandable, given the constant warfare between Scotland and England), and (in this version) sexual obsession.
Under Fee’s direction the streamlined story steps from murder to murder, all the while accompanied by beautiful phrases that have become part of our common language: “Is this a dagger which I see before me,” “Out, out brief candle,” “Nothing in his life became him like the leaving it,” “Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn, and cauldron bubble.” Kudos to the excellent cast who did not mumble, but delivered the lines cleanly and clearly (not always the case with this play in what is now a “foreign tongue”).
As Macbeth, Lynn Robert Berg offered a convincing portrayal of obsessive ambition and fury, but he also seemed weary of being king the minute he became one. Erin Partin, as Lady Macbeth, more than matched his passion and, in one scene, shows her character explicitly seducing her husband into violence.
Nick Steen as Macduff played the dashing hero (who left the wife and kids to be murdered) who finally bests Macbeth in combat.
The witches, Laura Welsh Berg, Jodi Dominick (who also played the ill-fated Lady Macduff), and Meredith Lark, all three garbed in black capes, resemble evil crows, as they give Macbeth bad advice. Once again, as in 2008 when we saw them for the first time, lifts in the middle of the stage allow them to disappear into the earth. Still a great effect!
It’s also clever the way they haunt onstage action, but only Macbeth can see them (just as only he can see Banquo’s ghost). And they prove very important not only to the storyline, but to the idea that the Scots as a tribe are ignorant, superstitious louts.
The ensemble included Jonathan Dyrud as the noble Banquo, Jake Spencer (as appealing young survivor Fleance), Aled Davies as both Seyton and the porter (in a too-brief sequence), Pedar Benson Bate, Remell Bowens Jr., Jeb Burris, Andrew May, Dougfred Miller, Andrew Pope, Peter Ribar, Jack Spencer, Andrew Pope, Peter Ribar, M.A. Taylor, Daniel Telford and Niko Ustin.
Although there’s scholarly controversy about how much of this play the by-now elderly Shakespeare actually wrote, it’s clear that anxiety over the Scots/English union created when James II became king in 1603 figures large in this 1606 play. Royal succession and the fate of children (pawns, dispensable) also play a part.
As I watched the chaos caused by Macbeth, I started wondering “Why doesn’t Macbeth have any offspring of his own?” Does that lack play any part in Lady Macbeth’s desperation? Might she have been less willing to murder if she’d actually had a child herself? The theme of childlessness loomed larger than I’d previously thought and the quick dispatch of whole families cast a pall upon the action.
Well, whether right or not, the coming of a theory (new to me) while watching a play so often seen demonstrates the lingering richness of anything (including the English language) that William Shakespeare’s genius touched.
BOTTOM LINE: This straight-forward, rapid-fire production of Macbeth touches all the bases, reminding us that ambition is destructive and psychological warfare (what the witches waged against the would-be ruler) kills.
[Written by Laura Kennelly]
Cleveland, OH 44115