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Reviewed by:
  • Macbeth
  • Katharine Goodland
Macbeth Presented by Theatre for a New Audience at The Duke on 42d Street, New York, New York. 12 March 22-April 2011. Directed by Arin Arbus. Set by Julian Crouch. Costumes by Anita Yavich. Lighting by Marcus Doshi. Composer and Sound by Sarah Pickett. With John Douglas Thompson (Macbeth), Annika Boras (Lady Macbeth), Graham Winton (Banquo, Siward), Peter Jay Fernandez (Duncan, Old Man, Scottish Doctor) Justin Blanchard (Malcolm), Ian Holcomb (Donalbain, Messenger), Denis Butkis (Lennox), Christian Rummel (Sergeant in Duncan's Army), Robert Langdon Lloyd (Ross), Saxon Palmer (Third Witch, Seyton), Marquis Rodriguez (Fleance, Young Macduff, Young Siward), Albert Jones (Macduff), Roslyn Ruff (Lady Macduff, Gentlewoman), John Christopher Jones (Porter, Servant), Tommy Shrider (First Witch, First Murderer), Andrew Zimmerman (Second Witch, Second Murderer), and Christian Rummel (English Doctor, Menteith)

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In her third Shakespearean production at Theatre for a New Audience, Arin Arbus's signature strengths were again evident in the clarity of the verse-speaking and the fluid, thoughtful staging of this gothic Macbeth. John Douglas Thompson, joined by a haunted and haunting Annika Boras as Lady Macbeth, led the strong cast, among whom John Christopher Jones's Porter and Justin Blanchard's Malcolm were especially noteworthy. The odd, cumbersome scene between Macduff and Malcolm, in which Malcolm tests Macduff's loyalty (4.3), was exceptional, rendered so by the fine performance of Justin Blanchard.

All the action occurred on or in front of the Macbeths' oppressive, iron-clad, castle, which dominated the stage with wide, curving staircases stage left and right leading to an upper balcony, a thicket of columns stage center, and an open playing space on the downstage portion of the thrust stage. The design enabled rapid transition between scenes, and suggestive moments of eavesdropping: Macbeth lurking on the stage-right staircase to spy the arrival of Duncan and his entourage at Dunsinane; Macbeth overseeing the violent murder of Lady Macduff and her son from the stage-left staircase; Lady Macbeth, cloaked in darkness amid the columns, overhearing Macbeth ordering the murder of Macduff's family. The rusty black embossed exterior of the Castle of Dunsinane was mirrored in the men's uniforms: muddy brown and black metal studded tunics with leather straps, and black boots, a design that evoked the play's violent culture without alluding to any specific historical era. Duncan was set apart by a red-fur stole and golden crown, which the Macbeths adopted upon assuming the throne.

All three witches were played by male actors. Despite their long hair, sack-like dresses and shriveled breasts, they registered as masculine, with grizzly, long beards, deep voices and forceful gestures. Light and music indicated when the witches were no longer visible to the characters on stage, though they were present and visible to the audience for most of the production, ever-watchful, reacting and directing events when they were not doubling as the two murderers and Seyton. Because of their maleness, they were aligned with Macbeth rather than Lady Macbeth, who consequently seemed more isolated than usual.

With her pale skin and hair, red lips, and black dress, Annika Boras's Lady Macbeth was as visually striking as she was fragile and fierce. The style of her dress—long-sleeved turtleneck with a high slit in back, leading to a line of tiny buttons up the back—was of a piece with the claustrophobic atmosphere of the production. Her performance of the letter-reading scene was nuanced and specific. As she read the letter, she [End Page 448]


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Annika Boras as Lady Macbeth and John Douglas Thompson as Macbeth in Theatre for a New Audience's 2011 production of Macbeth, directed by Arin Arbus. Photo courtesy of Gerry Goodstein.

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exulted at the prospect of her husband becoming king, then immediately shifted to criticism as she realized he would be too hesitant to "seek the nearest way." Her "unsex me" soliloquy was performed in the open playing space downstage beneath a single overhead spotlight—as if the light above were the spirits pouring into her. She began hesitantly, tremulously, as though embarking on an unknown and...

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