MacBeth: William Shakespeare RSC, Stratford Upon Avon. Performance: Audio described performance Runs: 3h 15m, one interval, till 14 October, 2023. 2 **: Rod Dungate.
MacBeth: William Shakespeare
RST , Stratford Upon Avon
Performance: Friday 15 September, 2023
Audio described performance
Runs: 3h 15m, one interval, till 14 October, 2023
Review : Rod Dungate, 15 September, 2023
2 **
A production that looks for the effect of everything but finds the value of nothing.
No beating about the bush; this production by Wils Wilson is the most pointless and misconceived production I have seen at the RSC for many years.
Virtually nothing happens without being signalled with some effect. ‘This is a spooky moment’, bass brass notes. ‘Is this a dagger I see before me?’, magic dagger moving sound effect. McDuff’s children are murdered, wicked witches screetching and flying into the air.
But worse than this, virtually all the actors seem incapable of speaking the text. Almost none embody their text so that it appears ‘in the moment’, a crucial requirement if we are to be truly engaged. Rather the actors play the effect of their lines with no tangible relationship to the lines’ meaning. Sentences and phrases frequently are split into peculiar little chunks which strips away any meaning the lines should have. This fault starts right at the top with Reuben Joseph’s Macbeth and Valne Kane’s Lady Macbeth; we care little for them. The production’s nadir comes when Macbeth speaks ‘Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow ‘ as a throw-away with a stand microphone; modern but meaningless.
Much publicity has been gained in that the Porter scene is newly written by Stewart Lee for stand up performed by Alison Peebles; it is a neat enough trick and well executed, but what is the point?
When the production is allowed to settle down it works well. George Anton’s MacDufff conveys great despair, for instance, at the news of the death of his family, sustaining the scene with quiet truth.
I do not believe that Shakespeare texts should be treated as tablets of stone; but let’s at least give them some value. The Director, seems to believe that young audiences (MacBeth is a play on examination syllabuses) are not able to cope with art which has emotional challenges and requires effort; she is giving them a quick fix of showy theatre but depriving them of exploring empathy. In a nutshell, patronising them; this is the greatest sin.
Cast
Witches – Amber Sylvia Edwards, Eilidh Loan, Dylan Read
MacBeth – Reuben Joseph
Lady MacBeth – Belene Kane
Banquo – Anna Russell Martin
Fleance – Liam King
Duncan – Therese Bradley
Malcolm – Amelia Isaac Jones
Donalbain – Michael Wallace
MacDuff – George Anton
Lennox – Kevin Lennon
Ross – Ryan Hunter
Angus – Benjamin Osugo
Seyton, The Porter – Alison Peebles
Lady MacDuff – Emma King
Coll MacDuff – Liam King
Alice/Gwen – Annie Grace
Bloody Captain – Alasdair MacRea
Murderers -Michael Wallace, Therese Bradley, Alasdair MacRae
Siward – Therese Bradley
Young Siward – Michael Wallace
Creatives
Director – Wils Wilson
Designer – Georgia McGuinness
Lighting – Kai Fisher
Composer – Alasdair MacRae
Sound – Claire Windsor
Movement – Julia Cheng
New Porter Scene – Steward Lee
Fights – Kaitlin Howard
Voice & Test – Ros Steen
Puppetry – Liz Walker