Macbeth, with Sean Bean, Samantha Bond, and cast at the Albery
Theatre.
It begins with a bang, and proceeds with a stark intensity that
is at once militaristic, human, gritty, and very sexy.
KERRRRRRASSHH. flicker flicker. BOOOOOOOOOM.
The production begins with a tremendous crash of thunder, slamming
all house lights off with a seat-rocking bang, as though a power
surge has killed the electricity in the building. No polite warning,
no dimming of house lights — just BANG. And the actors launch
into their When shall we three meet again In thunder, lightning,
or in rain? before you've even gotten a chance to catch your breath.
Opening Macbeth with thunder and the flicker of lightning is terribly
literal, but the stark power of this sets the tone for the entire
rest of the production — visceral, powerful, stripped to
the bone.
The setting is nominally modern, with modern military uniforms
and a color palette rooted firmly in olives and khakis and dress
blacks. The stage itself is dressed in bomb shelter chic, with
distressed, rusty steel ladders and such, and a very beautiful
decaying Edwardian-era opaque glass door at the rear of the space.
Apart from
a few bare pieces of furniture brought in at intervals (a bed,
a throne, etc), this black and steel, rust and khaki arena is
what cradles this production.
Although the production's quasi-lawless military rule is shown
with a very modern edge, it's not rooted in any specific modern
locale. It's not quite rooted at all, in fact, floating in this
gritty dark box of timelessness aided by details like the usage
of both swords and guns, and by the transformation of the witches
into a sort of
Greek chorus.
This was a rather nifty idea — instead of being hags who
hover at the edge of reality, these witches are three similar-looking
beautiful young women, who weave in and out of the space in a
very liquid and ever-present manner. They dance and sing pagan-sounding
chants — along the same lines as how the Greek chorus originally
functioned. Carrying this further, like a Greek chorus, they do
seem to act as an extension of Macbeth's inner workings —
they bring to light his secret ambitions, through suggesting things
that were
already latent inside him. It was a really interesting interpretation
— interweaving this magical element was far more effective
and seductive than the usual otherworldly crones.
There's almost nothing to say about Sean Bean. He's glorious.
Playing angsty anti-heroes — men of tremendous integrity
and worth who took a wrong turning too long ago to remedy —
is what the man
does best. I'd venture that no one does it better. He throws all
of himself and his tremendous ability into his Macbeth, and the
result is electrifying.
Plus his presence certainly seems to have upped the quality of
the stage combat, which was strong, agile, brutal, and beautiful.
Samantha Bond is a sensational Lady Macbeth, all at once casually
elegant, fiercely sexual, and determinedly ambitious. Her Lady
M isn't evil... exactly... she's more passionate than demonic,
and though her ruthlessness has the required strong and unwavering
bite, she's never cold. I really liked seeing such a hot and mature
portrayal — she was more real than any other figure on stage.
I loved the little details present throughout. Small things like
the way the lights went subtly cooler whenever Banquo's ghost
was visible onstage. To mark the set in England, they lowered
a screen painting of two flying dragons and a St George cross
all shaped like WWII bombers tearing across a cloudy sky. Macbeth
wearing a dirty and tattered Scottish lion flag as a mantle at
his coronation was a deliciously deliberate smack, especially
as he processed to the accompaniment of a choir singing a bitingly
vicious Sanctus. These
details are made all the more intense by the stripped-down nature
of the production.
This production throbs with intensity, in its beautifully bold
characterizations, in its dark, war-worn set, in the strong power
plays and in its details of design. No concept or movement is
poorly thought out. It is gripping, fast, tactile, and real.
And yes, mm mm that Sean Bean does indeed
look nice without a shirt.
Lisa's review is also on her website.
The direct link to the article is
http://www.illuminatio.vermilionink.com/daily/archives/001041.html
Her main site (called "Daily Illuminations")
is
http://www.illuminatio.vermilionink.com