MACBETH 2022 Reviews — Page 3

Saw it in April, right after it returned from a shut-down, and it was filled with half-baked ideas. The much discussed prologue had not yet been incorporated. A family member went last night (6/16) and said the second half was markedly better, though Craig still shouts too much. But the conceit of the production, revealed fully in the closing moments, still doesn't make enough sense conceptually to justify its existence; it just feels added and not thoroughly developed to amplify themes in the play.

Jordan Catalano said: "while I’m not gonna say it was good, I never found myself zoning out. I think it’s just so weird, unconventional (and even bad) at so many parts that that alone held my interest."

Well put.

I saw this tonight. Orchestra was pretty full (though my TDF seats were Row J on the aisle, so it isnt exactly selling out) and from the cheers above me, this was well-received.

Im glad I saw it, though I remain completely confused as to how/why Sam Gold keeps getting jobs. Yeah he did great work with Fun Home (he had amazing material and an amazing cast and an amazing space and he let them shine) and A Dolls House Part 2, but both were original works. When it comes to revivals he feels compelled to Show Us He Is Directing and so I have now seen the disastrous result with The Real Thing, The Glass Menagerie, and King Lear. Macbeth is the same playbook: his direction is clamoring to be The Star and it kills the show. I cant fathom it.

Without getting into all the many ways Gold inserts himself into the production, the billowing smoke alone is paradigm enough. I thought it was comical by the end of Act 1, maddening by the time we got to Act 2. A high school theater director would edit themselves better.

AND YET!

I thought Craig was phenomenal. Passionate and in the zone; paranoid then blustery then terrified. (At one point during his end of act 1 monologue, he stopped himself to politely ask someone "please put that down" which I assume referred to a recording phone, and then picked it right back up again like a total pro, beautifully). He clawed his way from behind the bizarre silliness in the production and did fine work. Surprised me given the tepid response here.

Negga, too, was phenomenal, and is such a natural with the Bard's language, she was a joy to listen to. Loved the way she was styled, too, a sexy panther prowling the stage. And her sleep walking was gut wrenching, not showy... a well deserved Tony nomination. (Though the critics were right in noting that Gold almost purposefully ignored her relationship to/with Craig's Macbeth. They might as well have been in different plays).

And yet the rest of the cast simply collapses underneath the misdirection. I still enjoyed the play because its a pretty good play (the less said about the pathetic ending Gold added on at the end, the better) but MAN was it frustrating seeing so many different talented, quirky actors snuffed out by this production. Maria Dizzia is a treasure and here does...nothing. Amber Gray barely registers. Paul Lazar is directed to play kooky to the point of silly. And Asia Kate Dillion is so out of their element I felt bad. (Props to Grantham Coleman for carrying the play in the last 30 mins).

This cast in any other director's hands and I think it would have been electric.

Updated On: 6/19/22 at 12:22 AM

I dont mind actors playing multiple roles at all, for the record. But this production downplays the very characters-- so Maria Dizzia as the Witch is not much different than Maria Dizzia as Lady MacDuff, except I think she pulls her hair back a bit. The affectation is the same, the tone is the same, etc. I dont doubt Dizzia could dazzle us playing two different roles but thats not on the agenda here.

I did see a few walk-outs during intermission, but to be fair, I'd guess they would walk out of any Shakespeare; they seemed (im being judgmental and unfair!) to be there to see Craig, and got bored.