Macbeth - WAAPA (9 October 2015)

WAAPA prides itself on housing many disciplines under the one roof at the ECU, Mount Lawley campus. Not only performance - acting, musical theatre, dance, contemporary & classical music - but all the other disciplines that are required to stage a production, from lighting and sound design, to costuming, set design, and arts management. This totality of approach makes the Academy unique and was certainly on display with this modern interpretation of Macbeth.

As I walked up the long corridor to the Roundhouse Theatre I could hear the portentous rumbling of modern music which was the first sign of the multi-media accompaniment we were about to experience. As the line of patrons waited to file in, the director Andrew Lewis pointed out signs asking that the name Macbeth not be uttered inside. This is a long held tradition given the play’s reputation of being ‘cursed’.

Once inside, the freshly painted stage was bare. There was a spiral staircase up to the second level where three screens were situated; one centrally, the other two on each side. Apart from occasions where a table might be wheeled on there was little set to speak of. This is where the light and sound design came to the fore and the use of those screens in various ways. They crackled into life depicting key elements - the roiling witches' cauldron or Seyton's initial appearance for example; or indicate the setting - Birnam Wood; but most noticeably were utilised to project live video of crucial soliloquies as they were being delivered on stage. 

Filmed from the upper level with at least two cameras given the juxtaposition of images, the harsh video look worked perfectly to heighten the emotion on the actor's face in close up - usually Benjamin Kindon as Macbeth but also Shalom Brune-Franklin as Lady Macbeth. The screens flickered and crackled in time to the modern, rhythmic music that was an ominous score. The lighting design was excellent with lots of diffused light through smoke and the highlighting of actors again in key moments but great use of shadow as well. 

Lewis had chosen to set this Macbeth "in a corporate world inhabited by knife-wielding, suited professionals". That suited look worked well with 'armour' being replaced by police style flak jackets. Brune-Franklin looked stunning in several gowns while the other female characters were sleek in their corporate attire; the men resplendent in suit and tie. Instead of swords and daggers we had knives and some vigorous confrontations, notably in the final fight between Macbeth and Macduff (Hoa Xuande).

All these elements gave the production great atmosphere and allowed for seamless scene transitions - this fairly hummed along. Having said that there were times, especially involving the witches, where there was a languid, at times hypnotic pace within a scene that was mesmerising.

This considered and skilled approach allowed the actors to shine in the space that had been so meticulously crafted. First and foremost, Kindon was excellent as Macbeth - a strong physical presence, he also conveyed the range of emotion from the almost boyish delight on hearing the witches' initial pronouncements to doubt and rage, the full force of hubris, and the slow descent into madness. His blind conviction of his invincibility was writ large as he mocked Macduff at the end only to be undone by such misplaced faith. His terror at Banquo's appearance was well portrayed and he handled the famous soliloquies well - the softly delivered Tomorrow, And Tomorrow, And Tomorrow the best of them.

Brune-Franklin was at her best in the aftermath of Lady Macbeth's terrible cajoling of Macbeth to commit murder and seize the crown. The portrayal of guilt as she prowls the castle, sleepwalking at night ending in the famous Out, Damned Spot was strong. Those two characters' intersecting emotional through lines is always fascinating. From the stronger of the two at the start Lady Macbeth crumbles into irreversible guilt and finally suicide. 

Lincoln Vickery was a most affable Duncan and later the more earnest Scottish Doctor who witnesses Lady Macbeth's malady and overhears her seeming confession. Dacre Montgomery provided a strong counterpoint to Kindon in the early going as Banquo and his return as the blood spattered ghost that rebukes Macbeth is powerful.

Harriet Gordon-Anderson, Stephanie Panozzo and Brittany Morel comprised a set of tantalising witches adding a highly stylised approach to proceedings. They also doubled as various servants and messengers. They were joined by Elle Harris as Seyton. Harris has a chameleon like quality that can see her playing a young boy (Fleance here and Tom Joad last year in Grapes of Wrath) with as equal credibility as the vamped up Seyton. 

The other standout though was Jessica Paterson as Malcolm. WAAPA often likes to switch up their casting with gender reversals and here Paterson was more than equal to the task giving Malcolm an impressive strength and charismatic stage presence. Unfortunately, Xuande's Macduff wasn't up to the same calibre, the Shakespearean dialogue coming across as quite flat in his delivery. 

Then there was the famous Porter scene that immediately follows Duncan's death. A radical shift in tone to provide some comic relief to the relentless darkness and allow our co-conspirators time to change. Megan Wilding nails the moment and owns the stage with a full-throated approach that had the audience laughing and squirming in equal measure. 

Another highlight was the tension built up in the scene where Lady Macduff (Rebecca Gulia) cradling her baby and talking to her son (Gordon-Anderson), is assailed by Bevan Pfeiffer's and Rian Howlett's assassins. Pfeiffer's sudden appearance out of the shadows at the back of stage had the person sitting next to me pointing in warning. The resultant actions were brutal and devastating.

I walked back down that long corridor reminding myself "this is one hell of a play" and that is testament to all those elements that WAAPA brings to the table. 

Macbeth is on at the Roundhouse Theatre until 15 October. Written by William Shakespeare, Directed by Andrew Lewis, Set Designer Ashliegh Hodges, Costume Designer Dolly-Mere Nettleton, Lighting Designer Chloe Ogilvie and Sound Designer Alice Carroll.

It stars the 3rd year graduating class of Benjamin Kindon, Shalom Brune-Franklin, Dacre Montgomery, Lincoln Vickery, Jessica Paterson, Bevan Pfeiffer, Hoa Xuande, Rebecca Gulia, Harriet Gordon-Anderson, Luke Fewster, Claudia Ware, Seamus Quinn, Elle Harris, Brittany Morel, Stephanie Panozzo, Megan Wilding and Rian Howlett. 

The Farndale Avenue Housing Estate Townswomen's Guild Dramatic Society's Production of Macbeth - Darlington Theatre Players (6 July 2014)

One of William Shakesbear’s most famous plays is, of course, the great comedy McDuff, also known by superstitious actors as The Polish Play; going on stage with scuffed footwear being terribly poor form likely to bring bad luck. It’s the hilarious story of a general manager who rises to become CEO of the Scottish Bank… or something like that. I can’t seem to find that page in my notes. Anyway, for the purposes of this review the details don’t really matter. This production sees the combined forces of the Darling Scarp Players Association and The Farnsworth Amateur Women’s Bowls, Bingo and Abseiling Club on full display at the recently renovated Marloo Theatre in Donnybrook, now featuring running water and heating!  

The title role is played in convincing style by Sally Ketteringham with able support by Gail Storm and Greg Boyd. The set is a work in progress - think Olympic stadium in a third world country a month before the Opening Ceremony - though the costuming was quite accomplished given the amount of curtains, drapes and bed linen used. The director has clearly encouraged the use of improvisation and the entire cast respond magnificently to the challenge. The play also features the best use of fishing rods since last years’ spectacular Fly Fishing The Musical at the neighbouring Garlic Theatre Club. There was quite the controversy, however, when a female reviewer stormed on stage at the end of the play and insisted on giving a full blown critique right there and then. Allegations have also been made that the raffle at intermission was rigged. All in all though, a satisfying afternoon’s entertainment…

Ricahrd Hyde, Film Critic

Okay, there may have been one or two inaccuracies in the above review…

In every instance all amateur or community theatre productions do their utmost to put on the best show possible. They may not always have the resources or sheer talent available but they substitute this with passion, ingenuity and a genuine sense of camaraderie. This play throws that all out the window with one simple premise:

What if the worst amateur theatre company ever tried to put on a production of Macbeth?

The result is a funny and charming show as every conceivable mishap befalls the production – missing actors, disabled actors, actors who forget their lines, actors with inflated egos, actors with laryngitis, a set that falls apart with a decent shove, props that don’t appear, props that mysteriously appear, sound cues missed, overly loud sound design, you name it. It’s very much a farce that delivers consistent laughs throughout; the charm coming from a throwback sensibility to English comedy of the sixties and seventies. In other words it’s all good fun with some iconic Shakespearean moments sabotaged in glorious fashion, especially “Out, damned spot!” (a moment that plays with the agony of ‘corpsing’) and “Double, double, toil and trouble” turned into a dance routine!

Siobhan Vincent is very good as Thelma who plays Macbeth in most earnest fashion as everything collapses around her until finally she has had enough before rallying to return for a glorious death scene. Rodney Palmer is also a standout as the stand-in for the missing actress slated to play Lady Macbeth, drag and all. The three witches - Alyssa Burton, Rachel Vonk and Taneal Thompson - cackle away merrily whilst bickering amongst themselves, with Thompson starting off in crutches and eventually becoming wheelchair-bound after a series of unfortunate off-stage ‘accidents’. She also plays McDuff while Burton doubles as Duncan. Fi Livings is Minnie Small who plays Banquo with a particularly amusing set piece involving a shopping trolley as she haunts Macbeth. Richard Coleman is the play within a play’s producer who is pressed into service on stage as circumstances deteriorate. Ray Egan gives an Are You Being Served? style spin to the big city adjudicator George Peach with his surname a running gag as mangled (or is that sliced?) by Neroli Burton’s Chairwoman of the Guild who tries valiantly to keep things on track. The fourth wall is constantly broken which is all part of the gag – we recognise elements of inadvertent disaster from shows we’ve seen in the past, just not all at once.

It’s an oddly constructed play with Marjorie De Caux starting proceedings as a pianist ‘playing’ various tunes for quite some time (with the stage curtain closed behind her) before the play begins proper. The traditional community theatre raffle is incorporated into the start of Act Two and it ends with the extended critique by Egan’s Peach before the actors take their bows. I enjoyed it though and laughed throughout. While it takes pot shots at bad theatre it does so almost lovingly in its over-exaggeration which makes it quite endearing.

For the record, Sallie Ketteringham actually did the costuming (with De Caux) and handles the show’s publicity; Gail Palmer is the Director; and George Boyd is one of the stage managers. The show is on at the Marloo Theatre in Greenmount until Saturday 19^th July.