It is impossible to say that the SITI company’s recent production of Radio Macbeth was purely a joy to watch, but it was certainly an engaging production that kept the audience talking long after the lights went out. The visiting theater company performed an adaptation of Shakespeare’s Macbeth that highlighted the darkest and most twisted aspects of the infamous “Scottish play.” It is a production that demanded dedication and focus from the audience as the actors took us through a complicated and surprising version of the play.
The production, whick took place in an empty warehouse, strove to exhibit a raw, emotional feeling that would bring the audience back to the true importance of Shakespeare’s words. The production was a play within a play as we watched a group of actors perform Macbeth only for themselves, holding scripts and using makeshift set pieces to bring the production to life. Although the concept was innovative and intriguing, the execution may have fallen a little below expectations.
Although it was a complex idea to think that these actors were playing two characters simultaneously, it was impossible to discern when they were playing Lady Macbeth or Lady Macduff and when the actors were actually playing “themselves.” The production would have been richer and more successful if the audience was given more of a glimpse of the actors’ true personalities and could understand how their real-life emotions and struggles played into the struggles that Shakespeare writes about.
The standout performance of the night was certainly Deborah Wallace, who played the characters of the witch, porter, Lady Macduff and gentlewoman. Wallace, like many of the talented performers in this show, was fearless with her facial expressions and physical actions and remained fully committed to every over-the-top character she played. The way she played with vocal registers and emotions, often seeming to teeter on the brink of insanity, made her fascinating to watch as she captured the attention of the audience throughout the night.
Other actors, like those playing Macduff and Lady Macbeth, held this same commitment through their unabashed emotions, screams of terror and cries of pain. Because the production focused so heavily on Shakespeare’s original dialogue and the relationships between the actors, the deep characteristics of each part showed strongly. One of the play’s strongest aspects was its innovative use of simple sound effects like banging, whispering or singing that built up and combined to create the production’s most climactic moments.
Although the production was flawed in some areas and seemed to slightly miss its intent, I left the theater knowing I had seen a good play. I do, however, pity any audience member who had not previously read or seen Macbeth itself. It would be like seeing Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Deadwithout first understanding what Hamlet is about. While the Scottish play is extremely well-known and celebrated as one of Shakespeare’s best works, the company was foolish to think that the entire audience would be familiar enough with the play to understand the production well. The show was so complex and some of the meanings so hidden that anyone without an excellent understanding of Macbeth would have felt that they were missing something.
