Macbeth, in the noughties, might sound more like a new kind of burger than potent tragedy but, while it has, as one might expect, plenty of protein, it's still centred on a crime even worse than creeping obesity: regicide. (I just know there's a burger-king joke in here, somewhere.) Of course, this big Mac is set in a time most unlike our own: an era of naked, reckless ambition and rampaging guilt; of delusion, ephemera and superficiality. Thank God such times are well behind us.This is one of Shakespeare's shorter tragedies and, as such, well-suited to the vagaries of a Sydney summer, under wildly unpredictable, globally-warmed skies. Indeed, what could have better befitted a performance of this play than a sweltering day, followed by gusty winds of change and the brooding, looming heavy threat of a downpour, accompanied by the crash and thrash of thunder & fiery tempestuousness of lightning?
By interval, not quite all hell had broken loose, but enough rain to do more than dampen the spirits of an attentive audience. Thus, 'though literally washed-out, the (now) annual Sydney Shakespeare Festival, proudly supported, no doubt, by the ever-loving mayor of fair Verona (well, Sydney), the redoubtable Clover, entered its second week.
Shakespeare might well have had to exploit the ubiquitous 'any resemblance to characters living or dead is purely coincidental' caveat, were he even more alive, today, for Macbeth is more than mere flight of fancy, being based on well-known chronicles of Britain, from his day. Macbeth, Duff & Duncan were not inventions, but players in & writers of history.
While murder and madness are in no short supply, as I write, they seemed to have been effected with so much more style in the Bard's epoch; or at least in the telling, since daggers doused with blood tend not to connote panache, but the kind of mundanely gruesome spectacle routinely accessible via, say, Criminal Intent, or, perhaps, SBS World News.
Witchcraft & ghosts seem a little more rarefied, however, unless one is to include the celebrity machinations of Paris Hilton, or resplendent shadow of Heath Ledger.
Glimpses into blemished, darkened souls is commonplace, of course, whether the fading spectre of Dubya or CEOs of floundering financial institutions.
Director, Julie Baz, has resisted drawing sharp, topical parallels, flattering her audiences in assuming they've the capacity to do it for themselves. This, happily, bucks the almost inevitable trend to thoroughly modernise Billy, a fashion as redundant as boob-tubes. A perfect bedfellow, as designer, is David Jeffrey, who's opted to retain last year's stage, sporting its maritime shapes, which serve, very cleverly, as a curtain. These, against the 'big-top' polar grandeur of the Anzac Bridge, by water's edge, at Bicentennial Park, Glebe Foreshore, remains an elegant resolution to a difficult set of outdoor staging issues.
Between the two of them, a sensibility for elegant simplicity seems to, well, reign: more power to them!
Stage manager, Bradley Linney, ensures all moves along swimmingly.
Brendan Miles has deservedly landed the plum title role, a walking advertisement for the ACTT, from which he is a graduate. To debut, for the SSF, in 'the Scottish play' is quite an opportunity, which he has almost flawlessly capitalised upon, with a confident, convincing portrayal of a very naughty, tormented boy. While his diction wavered occasionally, there was nary a stumble, otherwise. And his projection, into a stiff breeze, was admirable.
Milly 'Stilly' Stilinovich has a solid decade behind her, internationally, as a professional thespian, and it's apparent in an almost note-perfect double-act, as Lady Mac and witchypoo two. The technical aspects of her performance(s) were, surpassing (given the adverse meteorological conditions which prevailed, particularly) and, in its entirety, her Lady was the very quintessence of manipulative, maneating pussy-whipping.
Cherilyn Price's first witch was commanding, too; nor could anyone find real fault with Nicole Wineberg's third.
The other standout, for mine, was Matt Butcher (fresh from an Acting Shakespeare course at the RADA, no less, which seems to have done the trick a treat), in the fine form of Banquo. He was my 'man of the match'.
Other noteworthies included Richard Hilliar, as Malcolm (and 'first murderer'); Steve Maresca, as Ross and 'third murderer'; the Shakesperienced Gavin Williams, I seem to recall, was no slouch either.
Greater passion hath no man than Roger Smith, who ardent fans might well recall, in the dual roles of Dogberry & Antonio, in Much Ado About Nothing, from last year's festival.
The only truly dubious choice is a nepotistic one, in the form of Tennessee Baz-Jeffrey, who, as a real youngster, is a little, or a lot, out of his depth. If anything, it's a little unfair on him & his potential.
Despite a few technical stumbles, the Sydney Shakespeare Festival has punched, even above its weight, in its production of one of Shakespeare's perennials. I can only but wish, for players and audiences alike, when they meet again, it won't be in thunder, lightning, or rain.
Sydney Shakespeare Festival presents
Macbeth
by William Shakespeare
Venue: Bicentennial Park, Glebe Foreshore
Dates: 8 January - 15 February 2009 (also performing The Comedy of Errors)
Times: Thursday to Sunday @ 8pm
Bookings/Info: www.sydneyshakespearefestival.com.au
