Macbeth – REVIEW
Image: Hazem Shammas in Bell Shakespeare's Macbeth Photo: Brett Boardman
“Something wicked this way comes”, and that something is, of course, Macbeth.
Macbeth’s first appearance is as a brave Scottish general who plays a valiant part in defeating the combined forces of Ireland and Norway. In the end, (spoiler alert!) he becomes a tyrant and is defeated and killed. Order is restored with the help of an English army, something that must have appealed to King James V1 of Scotland, who was also King James 1 of England and patron of Shakespeare’s company.
On his return from the bloody battle with Norway, Macbeth and his friend Banquo encounter three witches on the heath who hail him as the Thane of Glamis (which he is), the Thane of Cawdor (which he is not), and as “King hereafter”.
They say that Banquo (played by Julia Billington in some gender-bending casting), will be less than Macbeth but will father a line of kings. When Ross (another thane, played in another gender-bending role by Rebecca Attanasio) appears to tell Macbeth that he has been given the title of the Thane of Cawdor, Macbeth’s ambition turns to becoming “King hereafter”, especially when King Duncan (James Lugton) tells Macbeth he will be spending the night in Macbeth’s household.
Thus the seeds are sown for the tragedy of Macbeth.
Director Peter Evans chooses to set the time of this late Shakespearean tragedy in 1920s England, after the destruction of World War 1 and the rise of spiritualism in the popular mind. Power, envy, and ambition are constants in human political and social life, whether in the 17th century, the 1920s or the present.
Hazem Shammas is a formidable Macbeth, who is becoming increasingly steeped in bloodshed with the murder of the King and his two guards, and is responsible for the murder of his friend Banquo and Lady Macduff and her young son.
Lady Macbeth (Jessica Tovey), too, is ambitious for her husband and goads him on, but, like her husband, is wracked by guilt, if not remorse.
The stage set is simple: wooden straight-backed chairs arranged in a circle wrapped around by a backdrop of a green curtain and green carpet (suggesting envy?).
The actors wear formal period dress, which diminishes the bloodiness of the play by suggesting they are all off to a swanky evening party.
The three witches, played by the youthful Rebecca Attanasio, Isabel Burton and Eleni Cassimatis, appear as if they might be off to a disco rather than being the harbingers of regicide and multiple other murders.
The mostly gloomy lighting (by lighting designer Damien Cooper) was occasionally broken by showers of bright light from above, but it was insufficient to convey the horror of Shakespeare’s work.
Unfortunately, this was an underwhelming production, although the performances by Hazem Shammas and Jessica Tovey were powerful and moving.
Until 2 April
Playhouse, Sydney Opera House, Bennelong Point
www.sydneyoperahouse.com
