REVIEW: STNJ'S SUPERB "MACBETH" HIGHLIGHTS VAULTING AMBITION IN A MOODY, OMINOUS, APPROPRIATE FOR HALLOWEEN PRODUCTION

 

By Ruth Ross

In my 34-year career teaching English to middle and high school students, Macbeth was my favorite Shakespeare play to use in the classroom. For one thing, it’s the shortest of all the tragedies; for another, the plot is pretty straightforward, minus the subplots and subterfuge of the other plays; and third, the theme is one that students can easily access and connect to history.

“Vaulting ambition,” success seemingly promised and then denied, a descent from honored hero to revengeful ruler—not above murdering those who are either “on” to him or stand in his way are tropes all too familiar to modern audiences. Thus, it is fitting that the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey has chosen to mount a new production of Macbeth, just in time for the November election.

Now, I have no idea whether Artistic Director Brian Crowe had that in mind when selecting plays for the 2024 season (it’s been 20 years since the troupe mounted the play). However, I do not, for one minute, think that the connection from a real 11^th-century Scottish monarch (1140-1157) to the tragic hero of a 1606 tragic drama written early in the reign of the British King James I (purported to be a descendent of the Scottish hero Banquo) to today was a huge leap for many in the opening night audience. Indeed, my companion and I turned to each other several times and shared the same (unspoken) thought.

Everyone who has graduated from an American high school knows the plot. Three witches prophesy that a courageous Scottish warrior named Macbeth will become Thane of Glamis, Thane of Cawdor and “King hereafter.” The first two predictions are fulfilled in short order, but his hopes for the third are dashed when King Duncan names as heir his young son Malcolm. Egged on by his beautiful, manipulative spouse, Macbeth takes matters into his own hands, murders Duncan, assumes the throne of Scotland when Malcolm and his brother flee the country and, to cover up the crime, commits subsequent murders, among them the vulnerable family of his nemesis, Macduff. Buoyed by further predictions by the witches, Macbeth faces Macduff, and upon learning that he is not “of woman born,” accepts his fate with dignity.

The action inexorably unfolds on a set reminiscent of a “blasted heath” and dark, dank Dark Ages castle designed by Brian Ruggaber, complete with sliding panels crisscrossed by metal rods backed by gray/mauve scrim, and moodily lit by Andrew Hungerford. The darkness that falls before the action starts is thick and palpable. Melanie Chen Cole’s sound design completes the ominous, mysterious atmosphere; the audience is greeted by lighting even before the play starts; loud claps of thunder, especially at the beginning of Act II, startle everyone; and ravens’ croaks herald the evil about to occur.

Director Brian B. Crowe has assembled a topnotch cast to tell the tragic tale. Ray Fisher’s Macbeth is every bit the gallant, courageous soldier; having saved Prince Malcolm’s life and defeated the “merciless Macdonwald, there is no reason for him not to expect the later “greater honor” promised by Ross (Dino Curia), who has come from King Duncan to proclaim him Thane of Cawdor. It’s worth noting that at this time, Scottish kingship was not hereditary; it was often bestowed upon a worthy soldier noble. Fisher’s arm muscles and washboard abs, not to mention his good looks, mark him as a special individual; heroic and handsome, he delivers his lines naturally and convincingly, whether he be hallucinating or delivering soliloquys at the end of the play that believably convey a sense of world-weariness and nihilism. Indeed, during the scene in which the ghost of Banquo “attends” the banquet, Fisher’s Macbeth deteriorates before our very eyes.

As his manipulative spouse Lady Macbeth, Erin Partin (above, left, with Ray Fisher) shows us her great range as an actor as she descends from wife “supporting” the ambition she knows her husband must harbor to raving, sleepwalking shadow of herself. Crowe links Lady Macbeth to the witches by having Partin speak the words of Hecate, Queen of the Witches, in an altered voice. I have often seen Partin in lighter, often comedic roles; her stellar performance here knocked me out!

R.J. Foster’s Banquo (left) is an equally valiant soldier and Macbeth’s close buddy, but lets his ambition be known when the weird sisters say he shall be “king hereafter.” No wonder Macbeth wants to keep an eye on him. Clark Carmichael’s superb portrayal of Macbeth’s nemesis MacDuff hits a high mark when he responds to the news that his entire family—“all my pretty ones”—have been murdered by the king: his response, “I must feel it like a man,” is especially affecting. And Gerrard James’ Malcolm, a bit of a twit in the opening scenes, grows in stature when MacDuff visits him in England. Suspicious of MacDuff’s intentions, James displays a slyness heretofore unseen Malcolm he proclaims his avarice, vice and voluptuousness to test MacDuff’s loyalty; only when MacDuff proclaims his reverence for Scotland does Malcolm reveal himself to be a worthy successor to his father, the kind, albeit a bit naïve, Duncan (Earl Baker, Jr.).

Now, about those Witches: Ellie Gossage, Aurea Tomeski and Felix Mayes never reveal their faces as they float around the stage, hovering behind the action in several pivotal scenes. They are especially effective when they concoct their witchy brew and when Macbeth and his spouse devise their nefarious plot. (Right, with Partin as Hecate)

Costume designer Rodrigo Muňoz has attired the actors in fur-trimmed wool cloaks, leather vests, and sturdy boots. Even Lady Macbeth’s dress (left) sports what looks like a leather bodice, reinforcing her strength. For the most part, the costume colors are subdued, to match the mood of the play. Doug West has staged an exciting final fight scene between Macbeth and Macduff.

Brian B. Crowe and his cast present a Macbeth worthy of being called a tragedy. It’s the tale of a highly regarded man who brings about his own downfall by a flaw in his character—in other words, “a tale told by an idiot, signifying nothing.”  But this production is far from that, one that breaks the play’s curse, one that should be revisited by all former students and experienced by those currently reading the play in class, not to mention lovers of Shakespeare and everything drama.

Macbeth will be performed  at F.M. Kirby Shakespeare Theatre, 36 Madison Ave., Madison (on the campus of Drew University), through November 17, 2024. For information and tickets, call the box office at (973) 408-5600 or visit www.ShakespeareNJ.org online.

(Right: Fisher and Carmichael fight to the death at the climax of Macbeth.)

Photos by Avery Brunkus.