Review: (Toronto) Macbeth

Philippa Domville and Hugh Thompson (phot by David Hou)

Canadian Stage Takes Summer by Storm with Macbeth
this Macbeth is a bull who charges forward and destroys everything in his wake
joel fishbane

Shakespeare has come to Toronto and, thanks to the folk at the Canadian Stage Company, he’s hit the park running. CanStage has launched its 31rst season of Shakespeare in High Park with a sharp and visually arresting production of Macbeth that works surprisingly well under the stars: the sombre mood of the setting sun perfectly fits the darker tones of the play, with shadows creeping across the stage almost as if working under orders from director Ker Wells.

Wells and Company have given some new tricks to a play that can seem like a very old dog. The story, for the two people out there who don’t know, involves a Scottish thane who conspires to become king after some witches reveal that a crown lies in his future. A lot of blood and ghostly business ensues. Here, thanks to a lean edit and some creative interpretation of the text, the story is heightened to something more then just the usual tale of violence and ambition.

Review: (Montreal) Macbeth

Macbeth meets the Great War
The Scottish play caps off a season of classics at Players
by Sarah Deshaies 
@sarahdeshaies

You couldn’t do a season of classic plays without touching on the Bard. 

McGill Players’ Theatre has been revisiting and refurbishing the great plays throughout their whole season, beginning with Waiting for Godot. For the final feature production before the McGill Drama Festival begins, director Martin Law and his cast and crew cast Macbeth in World War I-era Scotland.

The transition to this time period is half-baked. The mid-1910s costumes are sweet and reminiscent of Downton Abbey: mismatched officers’ jackets cinched at the waist and slim evening gowns. 

Review: (Montreal) Macbeth

(photo via Facebook)

Macbeth satisfies and stuns at Monument National

It IS a dagger...

by Rebecca Ugolini

Superstition holds that it’s the play whose name dare not be spoken, but the Montreal Shakespeare Theatre Company isn’t afraid to tempt fate. Their production of The Scottish Play is graphic, visually-arresting, and haunting, imbuing the famous play with new energy all the while screaming “Macbeth!”

Audience members sit on the periphery of all four sides of the square stage, either level to the action or watching over the railings of the balcony seating above, like spectators crowding a boxing ring from every angle. Thanks to directing by Aaron George, dynamic fight choreography by Paul DeTourreil, invigorating, dramatic, and almost tribal drumming by producer, percussionist, and set-builder Ace Lopes, and the eerie, cult-like movements of the production’s 12 Weird Sisters choreographed by Amy Blackmore, Montreal Shakespeare Theatre Company’s production of Macbeth feels appropriately frightening, claustrophobic, and mad.

Review: (Toronto) Macbeth

(l-r) Susan Q Wilson, Claire Acott, Annemieke Wade

The Sound and the Furies

Lighting, sound and the Witches thrive in Hart House’s Macbeth

by Laine Newman

From the first moment of Macbeth, the space is electric. Strobe lights burst across the stage in rushes of lightning with shrill noises rising to a crescendo culminating in deafening silence. 

Lightning flashes and the three weird sisters suddenly appear within a mesmerizing set created by Melanie McNeill. Their haunting eerie voices filling the space. While the three witches (played by Susan Q Wilson, Claire Acott and Annemieke Wade) were captivating in their movement and execution of their lines, the occasional use of amplification and echoes was unnecessary, overpowering scenes that didn’t require the extra trappings.