Macbeth

Setting Shakespeare in present times is no longer seen as a groundbreaking initiative, but Geordie Brookman’s thoroughly modern production of Macbeth for State Theatre Company SA breaks new ground nevertheless, though for a very different reason than its contemporary setting.

There has long been debate among Shakespeare scholars as to whether or not the Macbeths had a child. The script implies that although Lady Macbeth had suckled a child at some time, Macbeth himself probably had no children. But there is also a tantalising possibility that the Macbeths lost a child soon after its birth. Director Geordie Brookman has used this latter premise as a ‘doorway’ into his interpretation of the play.

Has the death of a child contributed to turning the couple into monsters? In the program’s Director’s Note, Brookman considers the concept of a dead child of the Macbeths and says of Shakespeare’s text, “The idea of what trauma does to us, what happens when the concept of life being sacred is ripped away makes much of the rest of the play possible…he shows us a path down which almost anyone could tread if infected with the right mix of situation, trauma and greed.”

That path is a ghastly one indeed, with the overall greyness of the set serving to emphasise the horror, especially when the only truly contrasting colour is the starkly confronting crimson of spilled blood.

The setting is bleak; an apparently abandoned industrial unit of sorts, that has high windows, most of which are shattered as if by vandalism. Scattered about are simple metal chairs that have seen better days. A solid grey slab rises from beneath the stage at intervals, providing a surface at which both meeting and murder take place.

Constantly moving like a lost soul amongst the action is a featureless, contorted and intensely unsettling figure. Here is the embodiment of several characters, including a witch, but primarily the figure represents various children of the warring characters: Fleance (son of Banquo), Macduff Jnr and, though not named, surely also the Macbeth’s possible ‘lost child’.

Rachel Burke gives a wonderfully controlled and extremely physical performance as the faceless child figure. On stage for the entirety of the play, she writhes against others, climbs up and over raised objects and creates startling and gory effects, being the vessel from which blood insinuates itself onto victims in scenes of murder. These death scenes are brilliant and each is uniquely achieved.

Nathan O’Keefe is mesmerising as Macbeth, while Anna Steen gives an equally towering performance as Lady Macbeth.

Like most of the cast, Peter Carroll plays several roles, including that of Duncan, but it was his Porter that brought a spontaneous ovation on opening night. Carroll’s hilarious characterisation was inspired and a welcome relief from the relentless tragedy unfolding before us.  

All others in the experienced cast are excellent, though I’d like to see a little more light and shade in the portrayal of some male characters to provide more personality nuance and contrast.

Lighting and sound design are each very fine and come together exceptionally well in the apparition effects in particular. Costumes are well thought out. Deceptively simple, but very effective, they reflect the dusty grey industrial theme.

Like many before them, Geordie Brookman and the State Theatre Company of South Australia have brought Macbeth into contemporary times. The intriguing difference from other such productions is that this staging of the epic tale of greed and lust for power bursts on stage through an unlikely portal, a mysterious child figure.

This fresh perspective helps underline an undeniable truth: human nature never changes and Shakespeare’s Macbeth resonates in today’s unsettled, often savage and increasingly self-serving times as if it were written yesterday.

Lesley Reed

Images: Anna Steen: Anna Steen and Nathan O'Keefe; Dale March, Miranda Daughtry, and Elena Carapetis. Photographer: Chris Herzfeld - Camlight Productions.