One of Shakespeare’s most popular and performed plays, Macbeth tells the tragic story of a lauded war hero who is corrupted by the lure of power. Prophetically, before killing his King, Macbeth candidly states: “I have no spur to prick the sides of my intent, but only vaulting ambition, which o’erleaps itself and falls on th’ other (side)…” It is the story of a man spiralling downwards resonating strongly with our current geopolitics.
The three witches or hags, usually interpreted as female, are intrinsic to the play’s development, even though they only appear a handful of times, and only twice to Macbeth. They predict his doomed future as the play opens and respond to his requests for more information in a key scene midway through the play. Macbeth’s fate is dictated almost entirely by their prophecies.
La Boite’s reimagining of Macbeth places the witches at the centre of the story, not just as catalysts but as narrators, offering an intriguing and enticing take on the play with its suggested links between the natural and political worlds.
Co-directors Courtney Stewart and Lisa Fa’alafi state that they see the witches as “conduits to the audience, guiding us through the tragic unravelling of ambition and power”. Meanwhile, dramaturg Sue Rider, adds that Stewart’s vision is a compelling one: “Disturbed by world events she wanted a vehicle through which to channel outrage, alarm, compassion and horror at the workings of war, and she wanted to explore it through the female voice.”
It is disappointing therefore that this vision lacks clarity in its messaging and delivery. Apart from an excellent opening scene with wailing and sobbing, evocative music and imaginative sound and lighting effects, the power of the three witches to be centre stage is lost as the play proceeds.
The design of an in-the-round setting by Fa’alafi, realised by Freddy Komp, is clever and practical. Blue twisted nets, a central levelled black plinth with painted floor and some cylinder rostra are used in diverse ways. Brady Watkins’ composition and sound design is suitably atmospheric, while Teegan Kranenburg creates carefully chosen lighting effects.
The three witches, Roxanne McDonald, Mel Ree and Nicole Hoskins, are the sole cast and play a number of characters alongside their roles as witches. The dramaturgy is faithful to the text and meaning of Shakespeare’s original, perhaps exceedingly so, meaning that the performers spend most of the play as other characters rather than as the witches.
Any through line or obvious connection between the witches’ natural and supernatural world and that of Macbeth’s world is therefore dissipated. The witches’ control is never apparent. The play is very much an abbreviated version of the original for three performers.
Ree takes on the main role of Macbeth and speaks most of his major lines and soliloquies. Unfortunately, due to the speed at which most of the lines are taken, many nuances of the character are lost and, being in the round and despite radio mics, it is hard to decipher her words when she is facing in the opposite direction.
Moreover, she plays Macbeth with a similar vocal inflection and timbre as with her other characters, not giving him a defined persona that could be instantly recognisable.
Hoskins plays Lady Macbeth, Banquo and Macduff, having some tough character changes to make. This is especially true of the emotionally charged change from Macduff, learning of the death of his family by Macbeth, and Lady Macbeth’s famous sleeping walking scene. Like Ree, Hoskins also offers no vocal change between her clearly distinctive roles to distinguish one character from another. Props, hats and costume changes are not sufficient to make this work effectively.
MacDonald offers the best of the non-witch characters in her first-rate portrayal of Duncan, which leaps off the page. It’s confusing that the actors play more characters than those listed in the program. For anyone unfamiliar with the work, it may be difficult to understand which character is speaking at any one time.
Read: Theatre review: Henry 5, The Playhouse, Sydney Opera House
I had hoped for a play that would be more in the style of Tom Stoppard’s excellent Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, first staged in 1966, which examines Hamlet from the perspective of his two friends, who have such small roles in the original. It is clever, witty and addresses many of the play’s issues from a different viewpoint. Such an approach may have worked well here – a female and natural world perspective for the witches as they examine Macbeth’s decline. This would obviously have required a whole rewrite. But churning out chunks of the original narrative, with uninteresting delivery by an underequipped cast, makes this a dull night in the theatre.
Macbeth by William Shakespeare
Roundhouse Theatre, La Boite Theatre
Co-Directors: Courtney Stewart and Lisa Fa’alafi
Dramaturgy: Sue Rider
Set Designer: Lisa Fa’alafi
Set Realiser: Freddie Komp
Costume Designer: Frances Foo
Lighting Designer: Teegan Kranenburg
Composer and Sound Designer: Brady Watkins
Fight and Intimacy Director: N J Price
Vocal Coach: Marcus Oborn
Cast: Roxanne McDonald, Mel Ree, Nicole Hoskins
Macbeth will be performed until 22 March 2025.
