MACBETT: till 21 July
MACBETT: Eugene Ionesco, English version by Tanya Ronder
RSC, The Swan: in repertory till 21 July
Tkts: 0870 609 1110, www.rsc.org.uk
Runs: 2h 40m, one interval
Review: Rod Dungate, 19 June 2007
[This version is published by Nick Hern Books, a link to the script in Amazon is at the end of the review.]
What a discovery!
‘I came across MACBETT on my local library shelves, it was unexpected. Partly my surprise was that the play wasn’t more widely known.’ So says Tanya Ronder, whose version this production uses. Having watched the play, I have the same surprise.
This isn’t an absorbing play because it’s Ionesco’s take on Shakespeare’s play. It’s an absorbing play because of Ionesco’s take on leadership / dictatorship / the nature of power – select one or all. It’s bizarre, funny (sometimes hilarious), dark, cynical, brutally insightful, touching, stimulating. It is the stuff of dreams and nightmares. Silviu Purcarete’s direction is as imaginative as Ionesco’s theatricality, it’s sure-handed, dangerously near OTT but never quite; these are qualities he reflects from Ronder’s version.
Ionesco’s play has a tyrant Archduke Duncan murdered by Macbett who becomes another tyrant; the focus of the play is often on the repetitiveness and human cost of war. Written in 1972 you wonder if Ionesco’s eyes are looking towards Eastern Europe. But the play is relevant now.
Although wild, the production avoids Monty Python; it works as multi-layered theatrical metaphor. Macbett and Banco win the war for Duncan; there are repeated shouts of ‘The Archduke is coming. He’s coming. The Archduke is coming.’ But he doesn’t come – not yet, at least. This is the territory of THE LEADER or even GODOT; who do we follow? who do we wait for? why do we follow and wait?
Outstanding in the central role is David Troughton, he drives everything along with great energy and generous helpings of humour. Don’t take your eyes off Derbhle Crotty (Lady Duncan) – her second terrific performance in this Macbett / Macbeth pairing. The witch scenes stay with me now as I write, eerie, haunting, and strangely beautiful. Strong acting throughout and a deceptively jolly score from Vasile Sirli.
Ionesco concludes his play with a characteristic coup de theatre; Banco’s son (Macol: Thane Bettany) makes a long speech in which he tells us he’s going to be more powerful than any dictator before him. But as he moves through the speech, in a stunning theatrical image, all power is stripped from him. He’s not a dictator but just an actor . . . and nothing without his props. Why then, do we give such people the power they wield?
2nd Sick Man: Mojisola Adebayo
Glamiss: Jude Akuwudike
Maid / Witch 2: Frances Ashman
1st Soldier / 1st Servant: Richard Atwill
Macol: Thane Bettany
Candor: Sam Cox
Lady Duncan: Derbhle Crotty
Officer: Brian Doherty
2nd Soldier / 2nd Servant: Ryan Gage
Serving Girl / 1st Townswoman: Pauline Hutton
1st Sick Man: Emmanuel Ighodaro
Banco: Sean Kearns
Passing Woman / Lemonade Man / Butterfly Catcher / Rag Man: Sarah Malin
33rd Soldier: Jason Nwoga
Duncan: Patrick O’Kane
Wounded Soldier: Mark Theodore
Bat Boy: Joel Trill
Macbett: David Troughton
Directed by: Silviu Purcarete
Set and Lighting Designed by:Helmut Sturmer
Costumes Designed by: Lia Mantoc
Music Composed by: Vasile Sirli
Sound Designed by: Mike Compton
Associate Director: Steve Marmion
Music Director: Bruce O’Neil
Company Voice Work by: Charmian Gradwell
Casting by: Sam Jones
For the RSC script, via Amazon:
2007-06-20 16:45:41