Macbeth (an undoing) REVIEW 10 July 2024 ***

 THEATRE

Written by Zinnie Harris, by Malthouse Theatre

At Merlyn Theatre Malthouse until 29 July 2024

Reviewer: Kate Herbert

Stars: *** (3)

This review is published only on this blog. I’ll present a radio review on Arts Weekly on 3MBS on Sat 20 July 2024. KH

Macbeth (An Undoing)_Natasha Herbert, Johnny Carr, Bojana Novakovic_c Jeff Busby

 

It is common – perhaps expected? – for contemporary directors to shift the context and location of Shakespeare’s plays and/or interpret characters to make the plays more palatable to a modern audience.

 

Others adapt or edit the scripts ferociously. Tom Stoppard very successfully chose two minor characters in Hamlet, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, and depicted their actions when they are off-stage and out of the action, as well as incorporating the scenes from Hamlet in which they appear briefly.

 

Playwright of Macbeth (an undoing), Zinnie Harris, has taken a much longer and bolder leap than Stoppard by transforming Macbeth into a play focussing its attention on Lady Macbeth rather than her husband, giving both the play and her character a feminist, contemporary tilt. This risky and audacious attempt to ‘improve’ on Shakespeare, only partly succeeds as a script and as a production by Matthew Lutton.

 

Harris’s version of the story has not revealed new depth and breadth in the characters of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, and her reworked narrative is inconsistent and coherent. It does not effectively balance Shakespeare’s language with the contemporary dialogue and the colloquial idiom Harris uses often feels inappropriate, intrusive or distracting.

 

Natasha Herbert’s laconic and mysterious narrator who opens the play, is the most compelling and successful element in this production; we eventually discover this shabby creature is one of the three witches. This character is a cunning, dramatic innovation. Herbert commands our attention, enlivening the character, claiming the stage and expanding the story. Her performance makes this character seem best suited to the mix of classical and modern language.

 

David Woods is another highlight – however briefly – as a determined and gruff Macduff, and a silently surly murderer, while Jim Daly is suitably bluff and dotty as King Duncan.

 

Most of the performances are underplayed, presumably at the direction of Lutton, which gives an atmosphere of ordinariness overlaying – even masking – the bloody horror. However, this sometimes undramatic and pedestrian tone drains the language and narrative of power and passion.

 

In the early scenes, Bojana Novakovic portrays Lady Macbeth as strong, brittle and domineering as she wrangles her husband, the castle and its various noble and servile inmates. Unfortunately, the tragedy of her psychological fracture is absent in the later scenes.

 

Harris extrapolates new scenes that are not in Shakespeare’s play, an idea that has plenty of potential to explore and illuminate Lady Macbeth. However, this exploration of the woman as she is when “off-stage”, falls short of its potential, leaving us with a completely different, and perhaps less interesting character who remains in control until suddenly she starts ranting about more contemporary issues of women, feminism and gender roles.

 

Johnny Carr plays Macbeth as an ordinary sort of bloke who is out of his depth, which could be an interesting choice, but unfortunately, much of Macbeth’s inner turmoil is lost in this script and the character has a very limited journey.

 

The production style and the script lack dramatic tension or clear intention and diminish the tragedy and horror. Even the bloodied bodies of Banquo, Lady Macduff and Duncan are reminiscent of B-grade schlock movies. The constantly revolving, grim, grey castle is interesting for a few scenes but becomes repetitive and irritating.

 

The ending of the play is a strange choice that sends the narrative shooting off in an unsatisfying direction (partial spoiler) that dodges Lady M’s suicide and gives Macduff a surprising, vengeful role in her death.

 

There was so much dramatic potential and excitement in the idea of seeing Lady Macbeth offstage, but Zinnie Harris’s play and the Malthouse production have not achieved that potential.

 

NB: The trigger warnings for Macbeth (an undoing) have gone mad; they occupy a full page on a video screen in the foyer. Unnecessary?

 

by Kate Herbert

 

CAST

Lady Macbeth /Bojana Novakovic

Macbeth /Johnny Carr

Ross /Tony Briggs

Mae & Malcolm /Tyallah Bullock

Lady Macduff & Missy /Jessica Clarke

Duncan & Murderer /Jim Daly

Banquo /Rashidi Edward

Carlin /Natasha Herbert

Bloody Soldier & Lennox /Khisraw Jones-Shukoor

Macduff, Doctor & Murderer /David Woods

 

CREATIVE TEAM
Writer, In a new version after Shakespeare / Zinnie Harris

Director /Matthew Lutton

Set & Costume Designer /Dann Barber

Lighting Designer / Amelia Lever-Davidson

COMPOSER & SOUND DESIGNER / Jethro Woodward

Associate Lighting Designer /Tom Willis

Associate Sound Designer /Justin Gardam

Intimacy Coordinator /Amy Cater

Fight Choreographer / Lyndal Grant