Review - Macbeth (Bell Shakespeare @ Arts Centre Melb)

Never exposed to Shakespeare in my schooling or home life and concerned that my $75 ticket was going to amount to nothing more than 150 minutes of sheer confusion, I visited the Bell Shakespeare website and downloaded the learning guide for Macbeth. Intrigued by the story I went further, trawling internet pages on how to understand the language and slowly but surely I reached the destination I was looking for - I began to understand why Shakespeare - and the play of Macbeth - are so popular. It is a complex play full of many themes but a simplified version might go something like this: Macbeth is told by a witch that he will become King Macbeth and Lady Macbeth conspire to kill the King to ensure the prophecy is realised Macbeth kills his friend Banquo who knows too much and to sure up Macbeth's position Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are forced to deal with the psychological issues brought about by murdering the King and Banquo as they descend further and further into chaos The King's son Malcolm flees to England to take refuge and regroup, forming an alliance with Macduff who has become suspicious of Macbeth and, after learning that Macbeth has killed his wife and child, vows to take revenge and return the rightful title of King to Malcolm Lady Macbeth, deranged and unable to cope with her actions, dies Macbeth is attacked by a 10,000 strong army and meets his death at the hands of Macduff Pretty cool, huh? During the first half of the play, I did struggle to understand the motivation and sense of urgency that Macbeth and Lady Macbeth possessed in their desire to kill King Duncan - if you believed in the prophecy of the witch - as they clearly did - and her first prediction that Macbeth would be bestowed with a new title had come true (her next prediction was that he would be King), why would you be so desperate to kill the King and not just bide your time a bit longer? Of course biding your time is what boring people do (even, I suspect, in the 1600s!) and would make for a very dull play, but it was an issue I was struggling with until I read Kate Mulvany's wonderful piece in the program about how she has approached the play. Kate (Lady Macbeth) explained that she spent time with Dan Spielman (Macbeth) working out their relationship and how it would work on stage. The following four paragraphs from Kate completely turned the play on its head for me - opening my eyes and making me see this text from a completely different angle: "I tell him (Dan) about the "grief" I think the Lady is going through. There's always an issue as to whether the Macbeths have, or have had, children, whether he's sterile or she's infertile. Dan and I believe they are, indeed, grieving the loss of a child. Possibly more. And recently, too. I believe, in fact, that Lady Macbeth is possibly still lactating. {Take my milk for gall ... I have given suck and know how tender 'tis to love the babe that milks me ...} But there is no baby any more - all this grieving couple has is each other. Through their combined sadness, they cling to one another with a disturbed co-dependence. A lusty ambition to make life better." From this perspective, the play, the absolute determination that is shown by Lady Macbeth and the conviction she imparts onto her husband make complete sense in the most horrible, disastrous ways. From this point on, I was able to sympathise with them, which is why their individual journey's of descent into chaos and the various emotions that begin to inhabit their psyche was so riveting - and so terribly sad - to watch. As part of my journey learning about theatre I follow a lot of critics and I have noticed that quite a few have panned Dan Spielman for his role as Macbeth. I thought he was absolutely fantastic, and his decline in the second half was particularly strong and allowed him to really make his mark and grab the audience. I could literally see him being eaten up from inside during that second half, and even though I knew what fate waited him, still found myself hoping that director Peter Evans was going to try and change the course of history and re-write the ending for him. The fight scene at the end of the play was realistic, edge of your seat theatre and a credit to Dan, Ivan Donato who plays Macduff, Evans and fight director Nigel Poulton. Kate Mulvany. Wow. Like, WOW. What an incredible actress. She was mesmerising as Lady Macbeth. Her final scene where she is sleep walking and trying to rub the (metaphorical) stain of King Duncan's blood from her hands was easily the best piece of acting I've been privileged enough to witness so far on my theatre journey. I was also really impressed with Lizzie Schebesta who was enchanting as the witch and aided by some voice distortion over the speakers really imparted a spiritual, unworldly presence that fit perfectly within the play. Katie-Jean Harding has a small scene as Lady Macduff before she is killed but it was a brilliant one and I really enjoyed watching her - interestingly Schebesta doubled up to play her son in that scene and both of them really delivered their lines in a dialect that I imagined was closest to Shakespeare's time. The other actor to catch my eye was Robert Jago as Malcolm - and I promise it wasn't because he seemed to be a flamin' Scottish red head with a beard to match! I thought he conveyed the authority as rightful heir to the thrown perfectly. The music composed by Kelly Ryall was beautifully made and I loved how it simmered in the background throughout most scenes. Whether it was a decision of director Peter Evans or Ryall, I will never know, but it was a brilliant one. The only problem was a rogue speaker in the second half that began crackling but the fact that I was able to overlook the issue shows you how much I thought of the play, the cast and the production. Of course I have never seen a Shakespeare production before and have nothing to compare it to, but after my first "date" with Shakespeare, I am almost ready to propose. I highly recommend it. Review appeared at: http://theatrevirgin.blogspot.com.au/2012/06/review-macbeth.html Please visit http://theatrevirgin.blogspot.com.au/ for the latest Melbourne Theatre Reviews. Twitter: twitter.com/Theatre_Virgin