Perth Theatre
4 stars
A clatter, a thump and a piercing drone usher in the opening battle
scene of Rachel O'Riordan's all too manly Macbeth, which points up how
some little boys violent ambition can damage them more than they
already are. This is self-evident in the all-lads-together bromance
between Keith Fleming's Macbeth and Michael Moreland's Banquo, who
thrust, swagger and sneer, even as the three Witches promise Macbeth
the world.
The Witches themselves are twisted, pandrogynous figures, played by
three of the almost all male cast, who whip off their greatcoats to
reveal tightly bound torsos. It is the same later, when Richard Conlon
dons a skirt as the Gentlewoman who reveals a Lady Macbeth on the verge
of mental collapse. It's as if the female of the species in its
entirety are blessed with mystical powers beyond man's ken.
With Lady Macduff excised completely, Leila Crerar's Lady M is the only
actual woman onstage. Rather than play her as some black-hearted
dominatrix, Crerar's portrayal is of a girlish, highly sexualised,
libido-driven figure, who enters clad in bird-like white, and who seems
to relish the plot to murder Duncan as a particularly nasty game.
Until, that is, it goes too far.
Set against the high-walled, steel grey ramparts of Kenny Miller's set,
for all the machismo on show, no-one is ever allowed to run riot in
O'Riordan's production. Fleming in particular shows an eloquent degree
of understated control, even at Macbeth's most deranged state. There is
some degree of charisma too from Moreland and Paul Rattray as Banquo.
Born of woman as they are, for the surviving soldiers, proving they're
men is everything as they march towards a fragile future.
The Herald, September 23rd 2013
ends
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