Word: macbett
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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MOTORIZED BROOMSTICKS, decapitated balloon-heads, hitchhiking warlords... Once again Shakespeare has been made an unwitting accomplice to the theater of the absurd, this time in Ionesco's Macbett...
...title implies, Macbett is Macbeth with a twist--more than a twist, actually. lonesco puts Shakespeare through a meatgrinder and winds up with something that falls between Monty Python and the Marx Brothers. If this production is more silly than profound, though, much of the dubious credit should go to director Andrei Molotiu, who has turned the play's darker moments into absurd self-parody...
AFTER AN imaginitive battle scene consisting of stylized lighting, sound effects, and theme music, the rebellion is put down by Macbett (Scott Carneal) and Banco (Gintaras Valiulis). Carneal is almost plausible--his is physically suited for the role and commands a reasonable stage presence--but like most of the cast, he lacks depth. Valiulis' performance is as flat as a day-old Coke, and he is constantly and annoyingly brushing the hair out of his eyes. The best of the male cast is Vanderryn as Duncan, the cowardly archduke whose motto seems to be "safety first." Stupid but vengeful enough...
...rest of the plot parallels Shakespeare's original, but never very closely. Macbett meets the witches while hitchhiking in a storm, and the self-professed personification of faithfulness has to be literally forced into committing Duncan's murder. The witches are quite good; the female portion of the cast (Rebecca Menes, Daniele Schecter, and Sarah Halper) is much more capable than the male. Schecter plays a delightfully sleazy general with leather skirt and riding crop, and ably changes gears to play a maid in the second half. Menes, as Lady Duncan-cum-witch, slinks gracefully around the stage, an able...
Believe it or not, this review is an endorsement of Macbett. Remember how funny it was when Alfalfa tried to act like a professional showman? This is the same thing, sort of. The cast isn't great, but the script is, and together they manage to work...