This is Back Stage's review of the show's original run at Brooklyn Academy of Music.
The Scottish play has often been reset in modern times, but I've never seen a more effective placement of Shakespeare's tale of supernatural destiny and vaunting ambition than Rupert Goold's pre-Iron Curtain staging. Currently playing at BAM's artfully crumbling Harvey Theater after hit runs at Chichester Festival Theatre and in London, this Macbeth is played out in the sort of utilitarian room that could be either a hospital ward or a torture chamber, courtesy of Anthony Ward's grisly set and Eastern European-style military costumes and Howard Harrison's spooky lighting, particularly effective when shining through the grille of an industrial elevator.
The mood of butchery is established immediately as an injured sergeant delivers his message of Macbeth's bravery to Duncan while being operated on by three mysterious nurses. It comes as no surprise when these ominous figures pull off their surgical masks, inject him with a lethal solution, and recite the witches' lines. Thus Goold introduces us to a world full of treachery, where those meant to do you good are actually your worst enemies.
Even those familiar with the text will find themselves clutching their companion's arm as if they were attending a brand-new Hollywood horror film. The hags' spells are accompanied by bizarre video images and shattering sound effects (created by Lorna Heavey and Adam Cork, respectively), and Goold gives us many stunningly scary interpretations of familiar sequences. The banquet scene, in which Banquo's ghost appears only to Macbeth, becomes a Pinteresque dinner party with layers of unspoken menace beneath the formalities. Goold plays it twice, before and after intermission, to stunning effect.
The witches' coven is a terrifying exorcism as the weird sisters call forth their prophecies from the corpses of soldiers slain in the earlier war. The scenes in the Macbeths' castle preceding the killing of Duncan take place in a kitchen where numerous fowls are chopped and dressed for the table, calling to mind Sweeney Todd. There are a few inexplicable directorial choices. Banquo is assassinated on a crowded commuter train, which makes no sense, as he's supposed to be riding his horse. Is he taking the train to the stables? But these lapses are rare in this vital, exciting production.
Patrick Stewart skillfully conveys the murderous thane's journey from loyal subject to treacherous tyrant. He shows the cracks in Macbeth's composure with small gestures and suppressed cries, then undergoes a transformation to superhuman killer when the witches convince him he's invulnerable. He pulls off an amazing triple switch as exhaustion fills his frame and he wearies of being a plaything of the spiritual forces. Kate Fleetwood makes a formidable Lady Macbeth, though she can be a bit obvious in her intensity. If she took the screaming down just a notch, she would be more effective. Michael Feast is a compassionate and heroic Macduff, and Goold gives the character the opportunity to show his humanity by having his family accompany him in the earlier part of the play, rather than having them just show up to be slaughtered toward the end. Scott Handy's Malcolm grows from a tender boy to a convincing ruler. Paul Shelley is a noble Duncan and a wary doctor, Tim Treloar a complex Ross, and Sophie Hunter, Polly Frame, and Niamh McGrady are easily the creepiest witches to stir a cauldron.
Presented by Duncan C. Weldon and Paul Elliott, Jeffrey Archer, Bill Ballard, Terri and Timothy Childs, Rodger Hess, David Mirvish, Adriana Mnuchin, and Emanuel Azenberg, with the Brooklyn Academy of Music,
at the Lyceum Theatre, 149 W. 45th St., NYC.
April 8-June 30. Schedule varies.
(212) 239-6200 or (800) 432-7250 or www.telecharge.com.