‘Versus Macbeth’ is the first production in the Sydney Theatre Company’s 2010 Next Stage program. The production is being presented in association with Adelaide’s ‘The Border Project’, a contemporary performance group formed in Adelaide in 2002 with a strong commitment to unique ensemble practice. The cast comprise performers from the Border Project and the Sydney Theatre Company’s ‘The Residents’, the STC’s permanent ensemble of actors.
As the title suggests, and as does the photo of a stalking black cat on the front of the theatre program suggest, this production is not a traditional production of Shakespeare’s classic tragedy. This is a conceptual production that plays around with the notion that, in theatre circles, ‘Macbeth’ is regarded as something of a haunted play, where mistakes and accidents often take place. What director Sam Haren does with his adaptation of ‘Macbeth’ is to incorporate some of the known incidents that have been documented into his production as well as including any incidents that took place during his rehearsal period.
This novel approach makes for an intriguing night of theatre. Haren directs the production tightly and with a good contemporary edge. Features include great work from an on-stage electric guitarist, and the killings through the play are carried out by guns filled with paintball! Then there’s the huge lighting rig that falls onto the stage midway through the production, but then that actually happened some hundred years ago in a European theatre!
Haren wins good performances from his cast including two dynamic performances from his leads, Cameron Goodall as a brutal Macbeth, and Amber McMahon as his driven wife. They both play their big scenes memorably; there are so many in ‘Macbeth’, with a particular highlight being Goodall’s delivery of the famous ‘Tomorrow and tomorrow’ speech that Macbeth delivers as he sees his life falling apart.
An entertaining, quirky production, ‘Versus Macbeth’ plays Wharf 2 at the Sydney Theatre Company until April 3, 2010.
28th March 2010
