ngMacBeth

//Macbeth// Review

Saltz’s //MacBeth// blew me away and was undoubtedly one of the finest theater productions that I have ever seen. The set was a major aspect of the play that impressed me. I thought the three-part set was incredibly creative and effectively supplemented the scenes of the play. The coloring of the set’s background had a subtle shimmer and accommodated the various lighting levels on stage. I did think that the wooden railings on the stage should have been painted black because as a whole, the stage almost looked unfinished because the railings matched the wooden base of the set. The way the set was utilized was even greater than the set itself. Every subplot of the play utilized the set in a different manner. As a point in case, during the scene when MacBeth’s men are looking to execute his order, one of the males hides under one section of the set and it appears as if he is hiding in a ditch. The set was used effectively in the fighting and chase scenes as the actors climbed from one level to another on the set and made it appear as if they were climbing a castle or some other large building. One aspect of the set that I did not particularly like was the incredibly oversized dinner table that was placed in the center of the stage. I think that the table was unnecessary and that the base of the stage could have sufficed as a table.

The lighting of the production was remarkable and in my opinion, one of the characteristics of the play that contributed to its success. The special effects used with lighting were something that I had never seen before. I thought they were a very creative way of translating events from the plot into the theater production while conveying mood as well. With the black screens that rolled down from the top of the theater, I did notice several gaps between the action of the play and the timing of the light screens when they came down. It was almost as if the actors on stage had to stall and wait for the screens to make their way down. A couple of times, the screen almost hit the characters on stage. The silk screen that covered the set at the beginning of the play was intriguing and definitely did the play justice. The wavelike coloring and red handprints on the screen were spot on and simply mesmerizing. The intensity of yellow light on stage was present in two variations, which made it easy to distinguish one scene from another and between day and night. The colored lighting on stage fit right in with the creative lighting and did not appear tacky. The lights created a quick mood stage, which was essential to this play with the incorporation of the witches.

As a whole, the actors were average and none of them particularly stood out to me. The main character who played MacBeth was steadfast throughout the entirety of the play and did not show any signs of exhaustion throughout the two hour production. His crazed and frantic episodes were acted very well and seemed incredibly realistic. The inclusion of young children was exciting and provided a change for the audience. However, it was obvious that the audience was distracted from the play by the youngsters, which took away from the overall mood of the sad scene. The actors were average in their fighting skills and undoubtedly; their moves could have been made smoother with practice. Lady MacBeth did a fantastic job of conveying her obsession with the blood on her hands while appearing to remain calm at the same time.

The costumes of this play reminded me of Shakespeare’s time and were very resourceful. The use of rain boots as boots was quite clever. The lighting devices on all of the characters looked like all of the actors were wearing knee, elbow, and shoulder pads, which was a bit comical. The costumes of the witches were average and I think a better job could have been done. They appeared as if they were angels and not witches. It would have been a good idea to drape white fabric around a witch hat as opposed to a square shaped headdress that looked more like a Halloween costume. The soldiers were dressed almost exactly as if they were truly soldiers from the specific time period of the play. I do believe that MacBeth’s and Lady MacBeth’s costumes could have been more elaborate to signify their high standing and distinguished status. It was almost as if their costumes were long bathrobes that had been fashioned into royal costumes.

On another note, I think that the production would have benefitted from the addition of music and sound effects because there were a lot of nondiegetic sounds present throughout the production. The sound of trap doors shutting and opening was quite loud as were the footsteps of characters walking around on the wooden stage.

The overall mood of the play was very serious and over-the-top, as made apparent by the way the actors spoke and the script itself. Even the way the actors walked on stage contributed to the serious mood of the production. The fight scenes, constant interruptions by the witches, and murders also added to the heaviness of the overall production. There were few comedic moments throughout the course of the play. As a whole, this was a unified production that definitely kept the audience’s attention despite its long running time. A few minor details here and there would have made the production even better, but I did not find any major flaws with the play. I liked having the special lighting effects even though the plastic light patches made the characters’ costumes look goofy. I appreciated the lights because they contributed to a larger than life and ethereal atmosphere whenever the witches appeared. The lights made it seem as if everything was beyond our control. It was easier to understand the events occurring in the play when there was the visual aid of lights. More than anything, the set brought all of the events in the play together. Even though the same set was used throughout the entire production, it was so versatile and served so many different functions. I appreciated the creativity that was clearly used in designing and creating the set. For such a large production, there were only minor technical issues and shortcomings.