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Macbeth
By Gilbert Wong
There
can't be too many actors who can employ the wondrous phrase "multitudinous
seas incarnadine", part of a woeful, guilty lament by the
murdering Macbeth, and make it sound contemporary. Michael Hurst
does this and more in a production that drills deep into the terrible
psychological turmoil, the thin line that divides the brave soldier
from the foulest murderer.
Perhaps
taking a leaf from the excellent film Richard III with Sir Ian
McKellen, Hurst updates the play, but to a period about the time
of World War I rather than imaginary fascist 1930s Britain. The
soldiers wear greatcoats and carry single action rifles, not swords.
The witches are nurses, though malevolent harpies rather than
solicitous caregivers. The world is turned upside down and as
nations splinter, so does Macbeth's mind.
Hurst's
direction makes much of the bard's artful mirroring. Anna Hewlett's
Lady Macbeth is introduced as she reclines in a warm bath. Later
MacDuff's young son (Edward Giffney), after playful bath-time
banter with his mother, is drowned in the same tub. John Verryt's
set, inspired perhaps by traditional Japanese minimalism, features
an impressive moveable raised floor and huge moveable panels that
suggest a castle's outsized volume as they open and shut on scenes
of horror and calm, guilt and innocence.
But
the play's the thing. John Callen in the triple roles of Duncan,
porter and doctor, has the benefit of experience, especially in
a delightful vaudeville turn as the porter. His presence and diction
highlight how some of the younger cast members rush and crowd
their lines.
Hewlett's
Lady Macbeth and Benjamin Farry as MacDuff invest their famous
lines with, in turn, terrible guilt and wild, inconsolable grief.
Macbeth's demise occurs in a brutal, knock-'em-down, drag-'em-out
street fight, culminating with his sorry skull smashed in. It's
in keeping with the tone of the play, but does unfortunately recall
the creative violence and excess of World Wrestling Entertainment,
as evidenced by a few giggles. But that is a minor quibble in
what is likely to be one of the finest productions to grace the
stage this year.
©Copyright
2004, Sunday Star-Times
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