Macbeth
The Scottish play, a famous Shakespeare tragedy, tells the story of a noble who wanted to be king, and encouraged by his wife, kills anyone in his way of the crown, bringing civil war to his country, and death to his family. Inspired by a real Macbeth from six hundred years earlier, Shakespeare’s story is familiar to audiences, not just in the many interpretations presented through stage and screen, but through the comparisons to the machinations of world leaders from every time, greedy for more power.
The Barden Party, a group of Shakespeare performers from New Zealand committed to presenting his works with relevance, fun, and outdoors, show us a wonderful version of the story, with seven actors playing all the parts, accompanied by music and song. Their approach to Shakespeare is refreshing: their audience interaction is superb, knowing smiles from a performer, or in our case, when Duncan points to one of us with the line ‘No more that Thane of Cawdor shall deceive’, adding after a pause, ‘the one in the red top’.
The venue is a corner of Adelaide’s Botanic Gardens, a square of timber deck with concrete ‘bleachers’ on two sides. The audience sits elevated above the space, illuminated only by battery-powered lights at the edge of the stage, and on the steps. The space is used creatively, every gap becoming an entrance, and the timing of the performance, beginning shortly before dusk, creates a perfect backdrop to the darkening story. Even an overhead parade of noisy cockatoos was incorporated into the dialogue.
Shakespeare’s language is retained, costumes are simple and Elizabethan-inspired – except for the ‘three weird sisters’, who in this case are two weird brothers. They move exaggeratedly onto the stage, dressed and speaking like zombie cowboys from an American Western, a floor tom drum becoming the cauldron as they deliver the well-known lines of prophecy to a wondrous Macbeth and Banquo. Caleb James and Hamish Boyle are excellent in these and their many other roles (Boyle’s Peter Garret-inspired dance is hilarious, and James’ Macduff is terrifically frightening).
Indeed, all the genders are inverted in this production: the kings are queens, the ladies are gentlemen, and that choice gives strength to the relationship between Macbeth and their spouse – there’s a different and deeper empathy from an extraordinary and intense Laura Irish as the titular character. My companion said he’d never felt sorry for Macbeth before, and the Barden Party’s production has tilted the emotion, bringing something new to the experience.
The entire cast are excellent – they switch intensities with each character they inhabit, and bring great humour – from modern ad-libs, but more importantly, from the original text, by showing that Shakespeare was funny. These seven bring new life to old words. Tara McEntee is a firm Duncan and then a jovial porter; Criss Grueber is a genial Banquo (and a mean banjo player); Ollie Howlett as Macbeth’s husband (Lord?) can simmer moodily but is equally comfortable as a husband crazy in love with his wife. Emilia Higgs plays royalty and thuggery so well – her Malcolm and Murderer are excellent, and not who you’d want to meet in a dark place.
The music doesn’t jar either – bluegrass blended smoothly from being the background to important dialogue then breaking into meaningful song accompanied by guitars, banjos, a fiddle and a cajón for percussion – the talent is incredible, the result inspiring. If I knew the words, I’d be singing just as loud.
If Shakespeare is just played out, without having that real understanding of meaning and context, it can easily be dismissed as irrelevant: the language is hard, and the emotion and physicality of the performers are just as important as delivering the words appropriately. The Barden Party are no cream-faced loons: they have a huge understanding of the message of this play and their production is easily placed at the centre of what’s happening in the world today. There were so many lines about how the bad know how to win over the good that hit hard – there’s more resonance in a four-hundred-year-old text than from today’s media.
This is exciting and brilliant theatre, breathing new life into the Bard, with impact, passion, emotion and relevance that stays with you long after the final bows.
Review by Mark Wickett
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