Joy Watters reviews the co-production between Perth and Tron Theatre.
Perth artistic director Rachel O'Riordan presents us with a Macbeth for our times in her co-production with the Tron Theatre, Glasgow. At first there is the sense of medieval Scotland as the lights go up on huge grey-stone walls, summoning up ancient battlements. Events of a thousand years ago are just the starting point as O'Riordan's contemporary take on the work emphasises the universality of theme.
Shakespeare's work is no dry piece of history but a tragedy charting the downfall of a once good man as overweening ambition turns him into a killer. Today, all over the world, the tragedy is repeated. The beauty of Kenny Miller's set is that it changes character by turns with subtle use of lighting and sound (Kevin Treacy and Debra Salem). It suggests various seats of conflicts ancient and modern; that same huge dark wall could be in Damascus or Derry.
In the central relationship, there is the interweaving of sex and violence. Lady Macbeth (Leila Crerar) is a sexualised, highly excitable young woman, spinning out of control. The sexual element is not always at one with the text but Crerar makes the role her own. Macbeth (Keith Fleming) dotes on his child wife, initially somewhat bemused by her enthusiasm for power politics. Fleming fails to fully express the agony of a man who sees that he is running towards disaster but is powerless to stop.
The cast is not asked to declaim the Bard's lines. The words come flooding out in naturalistic fashion to show the unstoppable path of action upon which Macbeth has embarked. The hasty tide of words does create its own problems. Words wash away and sometimes also vanish upwards into the gods for some reason.
In addition, not all the cast have the timbre and voice control for delivering Shakespeare at any speed. Paul Rattray as Macduff has difficulty capturing the cadences. Excessive shouting to suggest on-going warfare again obliterates the words. It is Richard Conlon, in a trio of roles, who finds the required clarity of diction.
O'Riordan's take on Macbeth will not meet favour with all who yearn for a more traditional approach (judging by audience muttering) and the piece is by no means flawless, but it is challenging and makes us look again at this great work.
Macbeth is at Perth until October 5 and the Tron Theatre, Glasgow, October 8 to 19
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