THEATRE
Written by William Shakespeare by Bell Shakespeare
At Fairfax Studio, Arts Centre Melbourne until 14 May 2023
Reviewer: Kate Herbert
Stars:***1/2
This review is published only on this blog. I’ll present a radio review on Arts Weekly, 3MBS, on Sat 29 April.2023. KH
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| Jessica Tovey and Hazem Shammas in Bell Shakespeare's Macbeth_PhotoBrettBoardman |
Shakespeare’s Macbeth is written with vivid, muscular, poetic language replete with grotesque and bloody imagery, supernatural beings, portents, hallucinations and serious psychological disorders. Peter Evans’ production goes part of the way to bring this grim and ominous play to the stage.
Macbeth (Hazem Shammas), a general in King Duncan of Scotland’s army, returns to court with fellow general and friend, Banquo (Julia Billington), to be hailed a hero in battle. But he is waylaid by the three weird sisters, witches who spookily prophesy that Macbeth will be given a new title and, "hereafter", will become King.
That prediction quickly becomes an obsession, and he and his wife, Lady Macbeth (Jessica Tovey), plot to murder Duncan when he visits their castle. But this "bloody business" begets more blood, murder and madness as Macbeth has all impediments and potential heirs removed from his path until he descends into mania and his world into mayhem.
Set on a sparsely decorated stage (Anna Tregloan), this production includes some atmospheric scenes, powerful interpretations of soliloquys, evocative lighting and sound. However, the play is peppered with some less successful scenes that do not do justice to Shakespeare’s text, and, although there are several highlights, the acting is uneven.
The opening minutes are promising, with echoes of the battlefield scattered with soldiers’ bodies, but the first witches’ scene breaks the spell; this trio lacks the requisite supernatural, portentous quality and makes the poetic incantations sound banal.
Shammas’ portrayal of Macbeth is audacious and novel, with an edge of demented clown. His Macbeth does not arrive on stage looking like a bold, courageous, battle-scarred general, but as an ordinary man. He very rapidly escalates into blood-thirsty megalomania and delusions that defy a psychiatric diagnosis – although I’m sure there is one.
This clown/king/solider/murderer/maniac reaches a climax after interval and Shammas brings new interpretations to the most famous of Macbeth’s monologues, including “Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow.”
The relationship between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth is passionate and obsessional, both being driven by the desire for power, while she controls him by shaming him into keeping his promise to kill Duncan. Tovey’s strongest scene is the fraught, hand-wringing sleepwalking monologue, “Out damned spot.”
Billington’s Banquo is sprightly and suspicious of Macbeth from the outset, while Jacob Warner as Macduff brings tears to the eye with his grief at the murder of his family. The versatile Lugdon is imposing and dignified as Duncan, riotously funny as the Porter and menacing as one of the murderers. He penetrates Shakespeare’s text impeccably and is the highlight for me.
The quality of this production is erratic, but it brings a new vision to a much-loved Shakespearean tragedy.
by Kate Herbert
CAST:
Hazem Shammas as Macbeth
Jessica Tovey as Lady Macbeth
Jacob Warner as Macduff
James Lugton as Duncan / Porter / Seyton
Rebecca Attanassio as Ross / Witch
Julia Billington as Banquo / Doctor
Isabel Burton as Lady Macduff / Witch
Jeremi Campese as Malcolm / Fleance
Eleni Cassimatis as Donalbain / Witch
Kyle Morrison as Lennox / Bleeding Captain
CREATIVE TEAM:
Director Peter Evans
Associate Director Abbie-lee Lewis
Designer Anna Tregloan
Lighting Designer Damien Cooper
Composer & Sound Designer Max Lyandvert
Movement & Fight Director Nigel Poulton
Dramaturg James Evans
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| Rebecca Attanasio, Isabel Burton and Eleni Cassimatis in Bell Shakespeare's Macbeth_PhotoBrettBoardman |
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| Hazem Shammas and Jessica Tovey in Bell Shakespeare's Macbeth_PhotoBrettBoardman |
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