Capital Region Performance Gallery

by Dick Frantzreb

If you are planning on seeing this show during the last weekend of its run, stop after reading the next sentence: much of the pleasure in this show is in the surprises that it holds.

I have seen many productions of Macbeth over the years, but this is the one that I will remember.

To me, this production was a masterpiece of stagecraft. So many of its details reinforced the sinister, brooding plot of this classic drama. And it all started with the set.

As I entered Harris Center’s City Studio Theater, an usher warned me that the set would be an unusual one for Macbeth, and she was so right. This intimate, 200-seat theater has raked seating that is fairly steep. When seated for this production, the audience faced a stage that consisted of two tall walls, meeting backstage to make a large “V.” The stage itself was on 3 irregular levels, plus the floor. In the walls (as they appeared to us at first) were pairs of 4-foot white fluorescent lights, one set above the other and about 4 feet apart — 8 sets altogether to cover the walls. A “chandelier” hung over the stage: a square structure made of 4 pairs of the same fluorescent lights, joined at the ends. All this — walls and the whole stage — was covered with semi-opaque plastic. It sure wasn’t evocative of the castle at Inverness — yet.

All pictures courtesy CMYK Photography

Something else one noticed on entering the theater was a soundtrack that consisted of “music” that I would have to call electronica (not the type you might dance to). It was a dull background roar, punctuated occasionally by subtle machine-like sounds that followed no pattern. It wasn’t loud enough to be annoying — just loud enough to be unsettling. This soundtrack continued with variations of which I was barely conscious. In fact, I’d venture to say we were only aware that there was a continuous background sound on the brief occasions when it cut off. Surprisingly, it ran right through the single intermission after Banquo’s death in Act III, Scene III.

Beyond this soundtrack, there were other effective contributions from the sound technician: truly impressive thunder at the end of many scenes, drums and gongs to signify battle, rattles to emphasize the sinister words of the witches, recorded voices that were made ghostly with reverb, and a high-pitched continuous noise during Lady Macbeth’s speech as she tried to get out that “damned spot.” Creative lighting effects were also used throughout the evening: flashes of lightning, the red glow from the witches’ cauldron, and colored lights on various occasions that passed by too quickly for me to document them in my notes.

As the play began, we could discern trees and lights behind the plastic-covered walls. This marked the entrance of the witches. For some reason there were 5 of them instead of the 3 specified by Shakespeare. But why not? The witches are one of the most interesting features of the play, so let’s have a couple more. And these women were definitely “interesting.” They sang snatches of eerie music at most of their appearances, and their costumes were bizarre and each different from the other. They looked like they had dressed from a collection of rags destined for export or items salvaged from a junk pile, except for occasional features like a mink stole or antlers. Banquo describes them later as “So wither’d and so wild in their attire, / That look not like the inhabitants o’ the earth.” And that’s about right.

The witches were in very many scenes, often simply quietly observing the action, and unnoticed by the other actors. It was a great way to suggest sinister forces at work. And there was one witch who really freaked me out. Whenever she appeared, her arms were constantly moving — for no apparent reason.

Early in the play, when the action began in earnest, I was relieved to hear that, with all the innovation in staging, there was no apparent innovation with Shakespeare’s words, though I assume that not all of them were used. To this company’s credit, I very often felt the beauty and elegance of Shakespeare’s language. And the pace with which it was delivered seemed completely authentic.

I don’t recall whether Shakespeare wrote it this way, but the first murder came only 5 minutes into the play. To dispose of the body, the actors pulled down some of the plastic from the walls to wrap him in before they carried him away. This revealed the “wall” as a wall of windows, with a tree behind it and very realistic rain. We realized we were now in a rainy forest. Later on, in Macbeth’s famous speech (“Is this a dagger which I see before me, / The handle toward my hand?), he sees an enormous dagger through the plastic remaining on the wall. He tears down the plastic, and the dagger fades — all the while that very realistic rain is beating on the wall of windows.

I found myself constantly marveling at how this glass wall (which incorporated doors for entrances and exits) enhanced this production. The presentation of Banquo’s ghost was especially impressive. We in the audience could see the reflections of the banquet diners behind them on the glass wall. But in a nearby panel there was Banquo’s ghost acting behind the glass, fading and then reappearing, as it prompted Macbeth’s descent into madness. Similarly, I don’t believe Banquo’s many children were ever presented more starkly than in the oversized figures that appeared on the glass wall later in the play.

This is truly a wonderful performance space. Apart from the remarkable technology of the glass wall with its doors and semi-reflective surfaces, the design of the room allowed actors to occasionally speak or chant and menacingly walk above and behind us — or deliver an important speech on the stairs between the seats.

Throughout the play there was a lot of well-choreographed swordplay and stabbing, and the props for these and other purposes seemed appropriate. The costumes were something else. I’ve mentioned the witches’ costumes, but my first impression of the male actors was that they were dressed like an urban street gang. Though this impression held for some, I was eventually aware that some costumes were evocative of rustic nobility in an earlier time period. Lady Macbeth had 3 striking outfits, the second (below) so strange (innovative?) that I don’t have words to describe it.

There was a lot of good acting, especially from Macbeth (Ryan Pullen), Lady Macbeth (Stephanie Hodson), Banquo (Bert Andersson) and Duncan (Damon Tribble). Several of the others impressed me, too, but everything moved too quickly for me to figure out their character’s name. In a traditional set and in traditional costumes, they would still have been convincing in their roles. Pullen and Hodson, especially, brought to their roles all the intensity demanded by this classic drama. And I was particularly grateful for their clear articulation and emphasis that made the Shakespearean dialog comprehensible even to those who might not have read the play (or might have forgotten some of its detail).

There was a lot of blood in this show, and most of it came from a shallow, 3-foot square pool in the center of the stage at the lowest level. This area, when illuminated by red lights, served as the witches’ cauldron, but it was also a ready source for extra blood. Banquo’s death was shocking and beautifully played as he fell into this little pool. Then in Lady Macbeth’s famous scene “The thane of Fife had a wife,” she enters the stage dressed all in white and with a long white train to her dressing gown. She stands in this pool to deliver her lines, and then walks out over her train leaving bloody footprints. Brilliant!

It is amazing what Falcon’s Eye Theatre manages to do with this small performance space. All this innovation in staging has, to my mind, an important purpose: to encourage the audience member to think fresh thoughts about what is, for many, a very familiar play — and perhaps to feel its impact more viscerally than they have before. I believe that the more familiar you are with Macbeth the more you are likely to appreciate all the unusual touches in this production. After all, why do Macbeth again if you’re not going to do something special with it? And trust me, Falcon’s Eye Theatre has done something very special with this treasure of English literature.

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