Macbeth

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MACBETH

Photo: T. Charles Erickson

Cititour.com Review
Lincoln Center Theater has turned Shakespeare’s dark supernatural tragedy into a gothic horror show. Violence abounds, blood gushes, but emotion doesn’t. And Ethan Hawke’s performance as the titular usurping king renders this Macbeth such stuff as B-movie slasher flicks are made on. Although the busy film and stage star proved himself Shakespeare-capable in LCT’s Henry IV 10 years ago, his performance as the Scottish general who kills his way to the crown is surprisingly flat, and not one that’s likely to register beyond the first few rows of the vast Vivian Beaumont Theater.

As Macbeth—dressed by Catherine Zuber in lots of armor and black leather—becomes increasingly tormented by his evil deeds, Hawke projects anguish and madness without really embodying them. Anne-Marie Duff, an acclaimed British actress making her Broadway debut, fares somewhat better as coolly wicked Lady M, but you can see rather than feel the acting, and neither one fully encompasses the depths of their characters’ depravity.

For that, look no further than the wonderful witches, adorned with skirts and facial hair, and played by with ferocious abandon by men, stage veterans John Glover, Byron Jennings and Malcolm Gets. They are the eerie centerpieces of director Jack O’Brien’s conceit, and they emerge from the woods and step into several minor characters—porter, nobleman, sergeant—making the point that evil isn’t merely a spiritual construct, it’s alive and well and walking among us. The technical elements are top-notch, with scenic and lighting designers Scott Pask and Japhy Weideman creating shadowy landscapes throughout the spacious stage.

But the best-played scene turns out to be the one in which Macduff (Daniel Sunjata) persuades Malcolm (Jonny Orsini) to return and fight to reclaim his kingdom. It’s urgent and real, unlike most of the rest of this Nightmare on Cawdor Street.

By Diane Snyder


Visit the Site
http://www.lct.org/showMain.htm?id=223

Cast
Ethan Hawke, Anne-Marie Duff, Bianca Amato, Richard Easton, Brian d’Arcy James, Jonny Orsini, Daniel Sunjata, Malcolm Gets, John Glover, Byron Jennings

Open/Close Dates
Opening 10/24/2013
Closing 1/12/2014

Box Office
212-239-6200

Theatre Info
Vivian Beaumont Theater
150 West 65th Street
New York, NY 10023
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