Paulanne Simmons
Macbeth in Stalinist Russia
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| Patrick Stewart & Kate Fleetwood in Shakespeare's "Macbeth" directed by Rupert Goold. Photo by Richard Termine/BAM |
"Macbeth"
Directed by Rupert Goold
BAM Harvey Theater
651 Fulton St. between Ashland and Rockwell places
Opening Feb. 12, 2008
$30, $60, $90 (718) 636-4100 or www.BAM.org
Closes March 22, 2008
Reviewed by Paulanne Simmons Feb. 16, 2008
The Chichester Festival Theatre Production of "Macbeth" had already garnered two Evening Standard awards (one for Patrick Stewart’s performance as Macbeth and one for Rupert Goold’s direction) and two Circle Theatre awards (Goold for best direction and Stewart for best Shakespearean performance) by the time it got to BAM this February. Thus its long-awaited arrival was accompanied by great expectations.
Not only did "Macbeth" feature Patrick Stewart in one of theater’s most coveted roles, it was directed by a rising star who had trained under Sam Mendes and helmed any number of well-known productions including West End’s "The Glass Menagerie" starring Jessica Lange and "The Tempest" for the Royal Shakespeare Company (with Patrick Stewart as Prospero).
Both Goold and Stewart have certainly made their mark on this production. But while Stewart’s performance is flawless, Goold’s direction, like the life of Macbeth, has its ups and downs.
The desire to place Shakespearean plays in alternative environments can lead directors down perilous paths. Rupert Goold’s transferring of Macbeth from the heaths and castles of Scotland into Stalinist Russia is entirely fitting and favorable.
Anthony Ward’s stark set (brick walls that are first a battlefield hospital and then the Macbeth’s kitchen) eloquently evokes the ruthlessness of Stalin’s Great Terror, especially when Soviet era scenes are projected onto the bricks. And the three witches, who are transformed into three nurses, are enormously effective.
The production is replete with many other strokes of genius. The banquet scene, which is performed twice, before and after the intermission, is startling and original. It provides both horror and the humor that is missing from the traditionally hilarious porter scene. The slaughter of Macduff’s wife and children is particularly brutal and powerful.
But at other times Goold's innovations seem pure indulgence. There are too many moments when Goold's staging undermines even Stewart's superb acting. For instance, why is Lady Macbeth's body onstage, taking the attention away from Macbeth when he delivers his most famous tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow speech? And do we really need to hear the witches' lines in rap?
All this is not terribly important next to Goold's colossal mistake in casting his wife, Kate Fleetwood, as Lady Macbeth. The idea here was to ask the audience to suppose that Macbeth is an older man married to a younger woman. This has great potential. It would have been wonderful to see Fleetwood using sexuality as a prod to goad on the reluctant Macbeth. How deliciously exciting it might have been to watch her manipulate the older, more vulnerable and insecure man, afraid to see his manhood slipping from him.
Unfortunately, none of this is evident in this production. Fleetwood is ruthless but entirely sexless. Except for an occasional embrace she might as well be Macbeth's angry and malicious daughter. And if it isn't sex Lady Macbeth holds over her husband, what is it? What gives this mere slip of a girl such power over a mighty warrior? This production never answers the question.
If "Macbeth" doesn't completely fulfill expectations, it is nevertheless magnificent in many ways. Stewart starts out impressively and only gets better as Macbeth grows into the tyrant he is destined to become. He is gratuitously cruel and unrestrainedly vicious. Yet he is also pitiful.
Other notable performances are Michael Feast as Macduff and Suzanne Burden as Lady Macduff. Their sensitive interpretations of the roles make the couple's love for each other and their children, and their overarching humanity an effective contrast to the monsters that Macbeth and Lady Macbeth become.
For all its flaws, this is a strikingly original "Macbeth,"
one that should not be missed, especially for anyone who wants the pleasure
of seeing Patrick Stewart at his Shakespearean best.
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