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May. 19th, 2024 12:46 pmVacationing various places at the moment -- almost certainly more on this anon -- but we saw Macbeth (an undoing) last night in Edinburgh and I really want to try to write down my thoughts on it while it's still all fresh in the mind, so I'm seizing the moment and the available internet on the Orkney ferry.
What I knew about this going in was "some sort of Lady M-focused riff on Macbeth," which (I thought going in) might well be either fun and clever or trite and reductive, but if one has the opportunity to see a Macbeth in Scotland one might as well do it.
The first act begins with a deeply metatextual R&G-esque intro with the woman who plays the lead witch and also Lady M's housekeeper aggressively addresses the audience and remarks upon the stage setting before the witches have a deeply eerie encounter with a wounded soldier on the heath ... after which most of the first act is, indeed mostly more or less a Macbeth, more or less straight from the text. There's some more natural-language scenes and dialogue woven in, generally pretty well and fluidly, and some odd plot additions, mostly focused Lady Macduff (she's Lady Macbeth's cousin, she's staying at the Macbeths' house, she's having an affair with Banquo, "wasn't this supposed to be a Lady Macbeth-focused riff?" I thought). We also learn that Lady M is political, and the housekeeper tells her several times that those three old women are at the gate to talk to her and she waves them away. Murders start happening, Macbeth is king, there's a banquet, we hit intermission.
ME: well, it's interesting, but I'm sort of confused by the choices
BETH: I'm waiting to give an opinion until I see how it's all going to come together
ME: I am trying very hard to reserve my opinions likewise .... but as of right now I'm not sure where the metatextual stuff went and I'm not disliking the Macbeth fanfic that replaced it but sort of confused about why it's happening ....
( then the second act hit! spoilers for Macbeth! )
... and in conclusion, I am like 75% sure this entire play is functioning as an aggressive argument about reductive takes on Macbeth and how you can't fix Macbeth as a narrative just by supporting women's wrongs enthusiastically enough, any more than you can fix it by blaming everything on Lady M. If this is the case -- if the bit that fell flat was indeed supposed to fall flat -- then I think I like it? But does it work if you're not going into this theatrical experience already primed and ready to have a good solid fight about themes in Macbeth? And does it need to work if ditto ditto? These and many others are questions I am not yet ready to answer but I would love to hear thoughts if anyone has seen/will see it!
What I knew about this going in was "some sort of Lady M-focused riff on Macbeth," which (I thought going in) might well be either fun and clever or trite and reductive, but if one has the opportunity to see a Macbeth in Scotland one might as well do it.
The first act begins with a deeply metatextual R&G-esque intro with the woman who plays the lead witch and also Lady M's housekeeper aggressively addresses the audience and remarks upon the stage setting before the witches have a deeply eerie encounter with a wounded soldier on the heath ... after which most of the first act is, indeed mostly more or less a Macbeth, more or less straight from the text. There's some more natural-language scenes and dialogue woven in, generally pretty well and fluidly, and some odd plot additions, mostly focused Lady Macduff (she's Lady Macbeth's cousin, she's staying at the Macbeths' house, she's having an affair with Banquo, "wasn't this supposed to be a Lady Macbeth-focused riff?" I thought). We also learn that Lady M is political, and the housekeeper tells her several times that those three old women are at the gate to talk to her and she waves them away. Murders start happening, Macbeth is king, there's a banquet, we hit intermission.
ME: well, it's interesting, but I'm sort of confused by the choices
BETH: I'm waiting to give an opinion until I see how it's all going to come together
ME: I am trying very hard to reserve my opinions likewise .... but as of right now I'm not sure where the metatextual stuff went and I'm not disliking the Macbeth fanfic that replaced it but sort of confused about why it's happening ....
( then the second act hit! spoilers for Macbeth! )
... and in conclusion, I am like 75% sure this entire play is functioning as an aggressive argument about reductive takes on Macbeth and how you can't fix Macbeth as a narrative just by supporting women's wrongs enthusiastically enough, any more than you can fix it by blaming everything on Lady M. If this is the case -- if the bit that fell flat was indeed supposed to fall flat -- then I think I like it? But does it work if you're not going into this theatrical experience already primed and ready to have a good solid fight about themes in Macbeth? And does it need to work if ditto ditto? These and many others are questions I am not yet ready to answer but I would love to hear thoughts if anyone has seen/will see it!
