Macbeth (An Undoing)

The Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh, 14/5/24

Macbeth (An Undoing)’ written and directed by Zinnie Harris

 ‘Macbeth (an undoing)’ is Zinnie Harris’s retelling of Shakespeare’s Scottish Play with Lady Macbeth centre stage. It returns to the Lyceum by popular demand. This review, like the play, presupposes an audience familiar with the original, for what is the point of a retelling otherwise?  Retellings aimed at people who don’t know the original tend to be the work of totalitarian states.

 With the word ‘undoing’ in the title my first thought was of the play’s notoriety as the undoing of many a theatrical reputation. Of course it also refers to Lady Macbeth’s line, as she attempts to wash the imaginary blood from her hands: “What’s done cannot be undone”. Harris here attempts to undo, unravel, and re-knit the original plot to showcase a female element.

 Any audience expecting perfect artistry from a radical restructuring of a familiar tale is likely to be disappointed. But it’s still worth doing. It’s tremendous fun to look at a story from a different perspective, to imagine history with a different outcome. Harris makes sure of that fun by including plenty of humour, ghoulish and otherwise.

 Why do we see nothing of Lady Macbeth between her appearance as the power behind King Duncan’s murder at the start of Shakespeare’s play and the pale shadow broken by guilt at the end? Surely she was the stronger partner in the Macbeth couple? Was it not he who started cracking early on, unable to face the bloody corpse of Duncan to retrieve his dagger, hallucinating ghosts at banquets? So Harris sends her new-crowned king down his wife’s previous path to handwashing and agoraphobia while she takes over the reins of royal admin, albeit in the hopes that he will soon recover and let her get on with re-sexing herself and producing a healthy heir.

 Harris moves the action not so much to modern times as to somewhere timeless. Designer Tim Piper eliminates any date-stamping of the sets by a wonderful upgrading of classic velvet drapes to tall sliding black-mirrored flats. (The mirrors, being plastic, give an unsettling warp to the actors’ reflections, but being black do not dominate or distract.) Lizzie Powell’s lighting is powerfully elemental. Indoors, an occasional chandelier descends from the flies like a sinister drone before settling to provide its traditional rosy glow. For costume, while males and servants look neutral, Alex Berry gives Ladies Macbeth and MacDuff 1930s Hollywood-glam dresses, their jewel-colours or shiny whites glowing in the dark mirrors.

 The first act opens with a new character, Carlin, addressing the audience. She harangues us for relishing scenes of bloodshed but promises plenty. The play then follows the original storyline pretty closely until shortly before the interval. However, Lady MacDuff comes in early as milady’s cousin and best friend (perhaps even a structural improvement on Shakespeare’s brief hello/goodbye with her sudden gory murder near the play’s end). Also, Lady Macbeth pooh-poohs the supernatural with rational explanations for Banquo’s apparition and the witches’ predictions.

 The language blends Shakespeare’s iambs with modern idiom and shades between, I think successfully. The performers certainly take it in their stride. The final word of Act One is a muttered “Fuck” as Lady Macbeth realises her partner in crime as well as in life has become a liability.

 With Act Two the storyline veers radically from the original. We see the Macbeths reversing roles vis-à-vis Shakespeare: he weakens while she remains strong. The male courtiers are unable to recognise their Lady when she takes on the royal burden, addressing her as “My Lord”. It explores the Macbeths’ childlessness and the MacDuffs’ fecundity. There is much clever conjuring with blood. Towards the end, it’s Harris’s script that begins to unravel, perhaps too many ideas. Nonetheless, this may not matter too much in a play which sets out to explore, rather than answer, questions.

 Harris’s direction is superb. Nicole Cooper’s masterful rendition of Lady Macbeth, given the accolades she has received this past year, is no surprise.  Adam Best as Macbeth, however, is oddly inward and lacklustre, except for his moments of fury and madness, where he does show his strength. Quarrels between him and Cooper are simply the most convincing stage quarrels I have ever seen; plaudits all round.

 Outstanding too was Emmanuella Cole, embodying a super-assured Lady MacDuff, swanning amiably around, bumptiously pregnant, seemingly not too bothered whether the baby turns out to look like her boring husband or hunky Banquo. Cole doubles as weird-sister Mae. As a loutish adolescent Malcolm, Star Penders also shines in the small-but-beautiful role. She doubles as weird-sister Missy.

 Liz Kettle as ‘Carlin’ plays the third weird. I cannot say “doubles as” because Carlin encompasses carline witch, castle skivvie and Greek chorus. As chorus, breaking the fourth wall, she is Shakespeare’s Porter and even Puck, for her belligerent words are coupled with sinuous movements before she spins and shape-shifts into witch. As castle skivvie, Carlin/Kettle’s body language mutates to stiff and stooped, her sniping directed against her employers. As weird, she rules the roost. Both role and actor are my favourite takeaways from this not perfect, but thoroughly enjoyable, show.