MACBETH (Shakespeare Happy Hours)****

 

by Cal

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPsSTIClIdA

Available until: Indefinitely

A lot of skill goes into the Shakespeare Happy Hours productions. I’ve heard and read about The Show Must Go Online, who are rightly lauded for their excellent and innovative productions, but they’re not the only online Shakespeare company and they all have something unique to bring to the world of Zoom productions.

Shakespeare Happy Hours haven’t had anything like the same coverage, but I can only applaud the way they skilfully cut the plays to about ninety minutes in length. It must be incredibly difficult, both in terms of choosing what to cut out and in letting go some really great sections of the play which they would have loved to have included, but every production I have seen has felt accurate and complete and has, in many cases, clarified a very complicated story. I rarely disagree with a cut (though I don’t know all the plays well enough to notice) and I’m often really happy by how much they have managed to keep in.

This is the shortest Happy Hours production I have watched – only 75 minutes – and once more, the editors have done an impressive job. If I do have some small regrets about this production, this might be because I studied this play for GCSE and therefore know it particularly well and have become attached to particulars scenes and moments which have been cut, but it is clear those scenes don’t actually need to be there.

There aren’t as many special effects in this play, with deaths announced verbally rather than being shown onscreen. It’s difficult not to feel disappointed as we’ve been spoiled by incredible fight scenes between people who aren’t even always in the same continent, but Macbeth comes from earlier in lockdown than many of the productions I’ve seen – just the fifth play in the Shakespeare Happy Hours series. Even the idea of performing a play on Zoom would have been fairly new and if this was my first Zoom Shakespeare, I’m sure I’d have just seen the many positives (which I will get to, I promise) and been really impressed, but as it is, ‘X kills Y’ is a bit of an anticlimax.

However, these are very small moments and there is so much about this performance which I really enjoyed. Some of the performances were truly impressive. I have watched a few productions of Macbeth, onstage, on TV, on Zoom – as well as watching Verdi’s opera Macbeth and listening to a recording of Ernest Bloch’s opera of the same name. I love the play and I have mostly really enjoyed the productions. However, until now, I have never been completely convinced by Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. Macbeth has always seemed rather an elusive character to me. Difficult to understand. If he’s likeable at the start, it’s difficult to comprehend how he got sucked into the world of witches and predictions and nagging wives. If he’s unlikeable from the start, I don’t feel any sympathy for him, which is rather awkward when I’m watching a whole play about him. There are other characters who suffer real tragedy, but, for a large proportion of the play, the focus is on Macbeth.

As for Lady Macbeth, most are very good either in ‘Unsex me here’ or ‘Out, damned spot’, but not so much the other one. Even if both speeches are performed well, Lady Macbeth can seem almost like two separate characters. Written from the point of view of Malcolm or Macduff, this play could have been an exceptional murder mystery (I can imagine Malcolm desperate to clear his name but also rather concerned about the flight of his brother Donalbain and what that might mean. They might then on Banquo as a possible culprit - I’m not sure for what reason -and then being completely thrown when Banquo, too, is found dead. Macbeth is so above suspicion initially, he’s actually trusted with the crown. It would have been a fascinating way to tell the story and perhaps one day, someone will write it. Perhaps someone already has!) But that’s not the way Shakespeare chose to tell the story because he’s not a murder mystery writer and that does put a lot of pressure on Macbeth and Lady Macbeth to hold on to our sympathies until we can throw our support wholeheartedly behind Macduff and Malcolm.

Shakespeare Happy Hours have found a brilliant Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. Chinaza Uche speaks Macbeth’s lines beautifully and the way he shows the changes in Macbeth throughout the play really is impressive. To begin with, Macbeth seems like a nice enough man. Nothing special but harmless, though presumably very good in the job he performs for King Duncan. But he is impressionable and perhaps that is part of his weakness – he listens too closely to what people say to him. This is all very well when he’s obeying orders, but when the Witches start filling his head with mysterious predictions and then Lady Macbeth gets on his case, Macbeth once more does as he’s told.

Once murder has been committed, it probably is too late for Macbeth – the countdown to the end of his life and career has already begun. But there is still hope for him at this stage. Uche gives us hope that this Macbeth might learn from this and take things no further. But of course, the murders continue. At first, Macbeth seems ready to descend into madness. Uche’s performance is shocking and heartbreaking here. But then he begins to change. He starts to like being King and he doesn’t want to let it go. As his ambition grows, his humanity visibly drains away, along with any remaining sympathy we had for him. But although we might not like him anymore, Uche’s performance ensures we still want to keep watching him.

Lady Macbeth is played by Christine Penney. She looks and sounds so gentle and there’s a real warmth in her manner. But there’s steel in her eyes. If things aren’t going her way, she shows a different side to her character, but mostly, she’s deceptively calm and lovely. It is a really clever performance because it’s almost hypnotic. We know what she’s like because we’ve looked into her eyes and heard her intentions, but when she puts on a show, there is something endearing about her. She’s obviously not my type (I prefer her handsome husband), but she is so charismatic. Her mad scene is very sad and touching and it’s easy to forget that she isn’t an innocent victim of her husband’s crimes and that a lot of it was her idea.

This production also highlights the tragedies of the early deaths. Colin Hurley’s Duncan seems like a lovely man and having seen, in the last few days, both his Richard III and his Bottom (stop sniggering at the back there), his versatility is truly impressive. Montgomery Sutton makes Banquo into a friendly and happy man, later creating a striking contrast when his Ghost appears, his steady gaze silently accusing Macbeth.

The Witches or Weyard Sisters as they’re called here are played by Celeste Perez, Ella Mock and Kara Arena. They are mischievous and gleeful and although they’re not particularly frightening, it doesn’t matter. Their enjoyment in being evil is contagious and I enjoy watching them. There’s also some more brilliant headphone-accessorising from Arena. The three return as Murderers and are completely different, the faces that lit up at the thought of their predictions now expressionless, completely unmoved by the task they’ve been asked to perform.

Fleance is the adorable bear Wilson Wilsonian. His cameo was a highlight and almost made me wish this was Verdi’s Macbeth, in which Fleance has a larger role.

Macduff (Alex Hernandez) and Malcolm (Drew Broussard) don’t stand out particularly early on but that felt right to me. Macduff is a family man who I think doesn’t like to get involved. Malcolm has just seen his father murdered and his brother disappear. They have family matters to attend to and, at first, no reason to distrust Macbeth. But as they gradually work out the truth, these two fine actors begin to shine and I’ve never felt quite so much on these characters’ side. Hernandez’s reaction to the news about Macduff’s family is heartbreaking – then the anger and resolve slowly and visibly build up inside him. Macduff’s deep and painful understanding contrasts well with Malcolm’s youthful impulsiveness and desperate desire to do something. They make a formidable pair, both as characters and actors.

It's not a perfect production – it’s too early in the history of Zoom productions for that - but in terms of performances, this is a Macbeth I want to watch again.