Instead of being about the corruption of power, or about the unconscious power of guilt, this new production of Macbeth by Polly Findlay at the RSC in Stratford is about the disruption of Time caused by an irretrievable act of evil. Admittedly, there are several references to Time in the play’s text; it is a running theme. But it is not the core of the play, and by focusing on it so blatantly (we watch a digital clock running down to zero throughout most of the production) this production has somehow detached us from the greater depths of the characterizations. It also distracts one from what is going on. Only 7 minutes to go, really? How are they going to fit in the forest of Dunsinane and the final battle between Macbeth and Macduff in seven – oops, now six and a half – minutes?
Ultimately, this production of the play falls flat. This is a terrible shame. On paper, the cast and creatives are very promising choices – and on the stage, the actors and the set are strong enough to command attention. The play starts well, with the three witches played by three children and the aged king, Duncan, awoken from his sleep by messengers coming to tell of Macbeth and Banquo’s victories. But then a bluff, straightforward Macbeth turns up and reads out his lines very foursquare and flatly.
Throughout the evening one keeps waiting for more – more nuance, more anguish, more of a descent into hell, from all the company. Christopher Eccleston starts at the same level that he maintains throughout; and with no peaks, valleys or significant pauses, he comes across as a bit of an unthinking thug. Niamh Cusack as Lady Macbeth somehow does not convey her passionate ambition or her passion for her husband. She is believable but limited. She conveys the greed, and she does the madness really well in the Sleepwalking Scene – though if you really want to experience the madness and pain of Lady Macbeth one of the best interpretations is actually Maria Callas in the operatic version. Seek out the CDs?
Edward Bennett was compelling as Macduff when he learns that his wife and children have been murdered by the tyrant, and Luke Newberry had a real presence as Malcolm. The production does have some clever, even memorable, ideas: the three witches played by children, for example, to relate to. The Porter is made not only into a devil porter and a dark-side clown but a kind of chorus for the rest of us. He observes the action with real cynicism and is very present after the murders Michael Hodgson acquits this interpretation of the ever-present Porter well; and Raphael Sowole is an appealing, morally centred Banquo.
Good in parts, then? Yes. Worth seeing? Yes again, because though I think the basic premise of the production is misconceived and inhibits deeper mining of the text, I do not think it is stupid. It is kind of like a straight jacket that is too strong, even blinkered, to do full justice to this complex and troubling story or the conflicted, ambitious and energetic central couple. However, everyone is clearly working well together within this constraining framework of this concept and you still come away thinking about the play itself, which is actually what one ultimately wants.
So not the most memorable, revealing, thought-provoking or emotionally moving Macbeth but certainly nothing to be ashamed of either.