Macbeth 2008 (review)

During the TR Warszawa production of Macbeth, the players spoke in Polish, while an English translation was projected onto the thick concrete walls of the bunker-like stage. The stage was divided into four narrow compartments-two on each level-so that the players seemed trapped inside a public housing complex. A laundry room and soda machine added to that impression. The converted warehouse where the audience sat had no roof, and with the Brooklyn Bridge overhead and brick walls all around, we also felt trapped. Because the warehouse had no sound system, the audience was forced to wear headphones, and we experienced an onslaught of special effects.

Entitled Macbeth 2008, the play opened during a high-tech military battle, with computer screens and the sound of helicopters. General Duncan and his headquarters staff monitored the battle, while Macbeth and Banquo led a commando raid against their enemies. Fearing disaster, General Duncan ordered Macbeth to abort the mission, but Macbeth refused to turn back. Instead as Macbeth's helicopter approached the enemy, we heard the distance to its target counted down in meters. The enemies were Muslims, who took off their shoes to pray. Trapped inside a Mosque, they were easy targets for Macbeth and Banquo. Macbeth carried an assault rifle, but he used a knife to cut off the head of the Muslim leader. Then he calmly washed his hands.

Instead of witches, there was only Hecate, who first appeared as a Muslim woman wearing a black headscarf. But Macbeth did not need her "supernatural soliciting" or the sexual blackmail of his wife for motivation. For him, killing Duncan was merely expedient, a sensible precaution. All Lady Macbeth had to do was remind him that jealousy over his recent victory had left him in danger. In Macbeth 2008 successful officers received a promotion and command of another "sector." They did not receive an estate with land and riches. And with a General instead of a King, the world of the play seemed more like a permanent battlefield than a country. Their jealousy of Macbeth erupted during a celebration after the battle, when Malcolm, in a drunken rant, claimed that all Macbeth had done was kill unarmed men at prayer. And General Duncan was no gracious figure, "clear in his great office," but rather a warlord who inspired fear among his men.

Macbeth's partnership with Lady Macbeth was emphasized. She helped persuade him to kill Banquo. Before the murders, they delivered almost simultaneous soliloquies from the roof of the stage. At times a video projection of Macbeth appeared above his wife, and their speeches were juxtaposed. First, Lady Macbeth called on evil spirits to "come" and fill her full of "direst cruelty." Then, Macbeth called on "seeling night" to "come" and "scarf up the tender eye of pitiful day." The rhythm of their speeches built to a crescendo, driving them toward violence.

In their excitement after Duncan's murder, they had sex on top of the soda machine. The curse upon Macbeth to "sleep no more" startled them: instead of Macbeth speaking those words, they were broadcast by an outside power. Later, when Lady Macbeth declined into madness and suicide, she was not driven by a guilty conscience. Instead she fell victim to Hecate, who appeared as the Doctor and infected her mind with "thick-coming fancies." Hecate and the Apparitions that trick Macbeth were presented as carnival figures, taunting their victims. As the Doctor, Hecate wore a short dress and high heels, and one of the...