We know exactly what’s going to happen in Macbeth, but it doesn’t matter because it is still thrilling and shocking in equal measure. It’s William Shakespeare’s shortest play and one of his very best.
When I heard that Shake & Stir Theatre Co were going to have a crack at what is known in theatrical circles as The Scottish Play, my first thought was – I hope they don’t stuff it up.
They haven’t. Personally, I like kilts and a bit of tartan with my Macbeth, but this is a modernised version that retains nods to the past, visually speaking. But the set and the setting, with audio-visuals and news headlines and social media on big screens, works a treat.
At first, I thought it wouldn’t. And the idea of lines being delivered by text works, too. You soon get used to this way of retelling the original Tartan Noir tale.
One thing you always watch out for is how they handle the Weird Sisters (witches) scenes. They do this very well here and the technology helps to enhance the spookiness.
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In his program notes, director Nick Skubij (it was adapted by Nelle Lee with Ross Balbuziente as creative producer) describes the world of the play as one in which “private breakdowns unfold under relentless public scrutiny and where violence doesn’t belong safely to history but lands with the unbearable proximity of lived experience captured (often without permission) and digitally immortalised for all time”.
It’s a moral fable in some ways because the evil that is done – the murder of King Duncan and others and Macbeth’s illegitimate status as ruler – brings Macbeth and Lady Macbeth only ruination in the end.
For Macbeth, karma is a bitch and there is no escaping it. He reaps what he sowed
As well as the witches, another favourite scene is the return of Banquo’s ghost at the royal dinner table. That is handled like a scene from Ghostbusters – and it is brilliant. Banquo is played by Johnny Balbuziente while Macbeth is played by Jeremiah Wray and Nelle lee is Lady Macbeth.
Wray’s performance gains momentum as we traverse this tragedy of Greek proportions and Lee descends nicely into madness, as she should.
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Good to see Pachero Mzembe, who we first got to know in Prizefighter, as Macduff, who is wronged so viciously by Macbeth, who kills his entire family.
This is a play about murder most foul and the ascent of a dictator – and we know what happens to most dictators in the end. Generally, they come undone quickly, although there are exceptions, like Spain’s Franco who managed to keep a stranglehold on his country for decades.
For Macbeth, karma is a bitch and there is no escaping it. He reaps what he sowed.
Cutting-edge technology helps tell this tale quite powerfully and Shakespeare’s text is intact, thank god. Imagine messing with that? The story and the words are so powerful and there is real clarity to this tale of woe and revenge. And there are some great and classic lines, of course, including Macbeth’s “tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow” monologue.
Even though I have watched the movies and have seen this play on stage countless times, sitting in the Playhouse at QPAC, it was like watching Macbeth for the first time. I was on the edge of my seat.
Full marks to designer Josh McIntosh, lighting designer Jason Glenwright, sound designer Guy Webster and video designers Nevin Howell and Jeremy Gordon, who have done a magnificent job creating this new world for Macbeth.
Brilliant stuff. I sometimes complain about productions (musical mostly) being endlessly recycled for profit, which they are. But, hey, recycle Macbeth as often as you like as far as I’m concerned.
Macbeth plays the Playhouse, QPAC, until June 21.
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