Marking the 400th
anniversary of William Shakespeare’s death, 2016 is the year that saw almost
every theatre company giving a go at the Bard’s repertoire, with multifaceted
and often unexpected outcomes. Following the same line, Buckle Up Theatre has
unusually put aside comedy and physical theatre to present a cutting-edge
version of Macbeth set during the
Cold War, where the king is depicted as a high-ranked member of the secret
police. The result is a well-devised and upbeat 100-minute play which, however,
resent the burden of the Elizabethan language.
As a Shakespeare connoisseur, you
might enjoy the innovative values within the original script but if you – like
me – are unfamiliar with the subtleties of the plot, you might struggle to keep
up with its development. Some of the lines remain hopelessly obscure and
doesn’t help the fact that an exiguous cast of five is called to cover several
roles, sometimes with hardly perceptible costume changes. If you add to this a
noisy group of schoolkids at the back of the 130-seat Lovegrove auditorium,
then you might have little attention left to appreciate the ground-breaking
angle of this modern Macbeth.
Nonetheless, Buckle Up manages to
design a gripping performance – despite the modest budget – and the Cold War
setting finds an immediate sensorial counterpart in the glacial blue lighting
that pervades the space. I was astonished to find out that, for this specific
production, the company hasn’t relied on a dedicated creative team but every
member has collaborated with director Michael Woodwood to conceive some truly haunting
scenes. The witches are covered on floor-length waterproof capes that shriek at
every movement. Macbeth (Neil Sheppeck) and Banquo (Andrew Hollingworth),
immersed in a thick fog, discuss suspiciously pointing flashlights to each
other faces. Some nasty deeds happen behind a veil of white gauze and, in more
than one occasion, I found myself sitting on the edge of the chair. The
reminiscently cinematic music, with its Hitchcockian flavour, also contributes greatly
to maintain this sinister atmosphere.
The cast is minimal but its
presence and distribution on the nearly bare stage is strong and well-paced. The
killing of Macbeth agrees ingeniously with the era of chemical weapons and Neil
Sheppeck is outstanding in the title role. He flawlessly delivers the emphasis
of a troubled man, whose eyes fill with tears of horror and face blushes in
fear. The rest of the actors offer a remarkable support, in particular Sioned
Jones as Lady Macbeth, who steals the scene with her bloodthirsty and dominating
influence.
Now that Buckle Up has found an engaging
modern setting and a suitable staging for Macbeth,
I wonder if it’s also ready to break away from the linguistic tradition and
follow the steps of some opera companies – like OperaUpClose – who translated some
European classics into English. Although I recognise the prominence of
Shakespeare’s poetic dramaturgy, I think nowadays priority should be given to
accessibility, allowing also the general public to enjoy thoroughly the
developments of such an absorbing plot. I’m certain that Buckle Up Theatre has
all the potential to knock down the language barrier and make its Macbeth even greater.
Review by Marianna Meloni
Rating: ★★★★
