Macbeth Presented by Seattle Shakespeare Company at Center Theatre, Seattle, WA (review)

Reviewed by: Macbeth Presented by Seattle Shakespeare Company at Center Theatre, Seattle, WA Michael W. Shurgot Macbeth Presented by Seattle Shakespeare Company at Center Theatre, Seattle, WA. 25 October–20 November 2022. Directed by John Langs. Set design by Pete Rush. Lighting design by Bryce Bartl-Geller. Sound design by Dominic CodyKramers. Music by Marchette DuBois. Fight choreography by Geoffrey Alm. Costume design by Jae Hee Kim. With Reginald André Jackson (Macbeth), Alexandra Tavares (Lady Macbeth), Quinlan Corbett (Macduff), Chip Sherman (Malcolm), Charles Leggett (Duncan/Porter/Seyton), Jonelle Jordan (Banquo/Doctor), Amy Thone (Ross), Darius Sakui (Fleance), Koo Park (Murderer 1/Donalbain/Young Siward/Soldier/Servant), Hersh Powers (Fleance), Hattie Jaye (Young Macduff), Lindsay Welliver (Witch 1/Lady Macduff), Esther Okech (Witch 2/Gentlewoman), Jon Stutzman (Siward/Murderer 2/Messenger/Soldier/Servant), and Varinique Davis (Witch 3). For its memorable Macbeth, Seattle Shakespeare Company circled the square. The action occurred on a circular platform set atop the Center Theatre’s rectangular stage, suggesting visually Macbeth’s sense of being “cabined, cribbed, confined” (3.4.22). At the back of the stage hung a large screen that turned bright red during violent scenes. Stage left was an opening that led to Duncan’s chamber, and stage right was a huge door of simulated steel and wood. Above this door were seven protruding spikes, and next to it was a spigot from which Lady Macbeth drew water to wash her and Macbeth’s bloody hands. Hanging from the ceiling were twisted, blood-red sticks, tree branches ripped from Birnam Wood. Though the door stage right suggested a medieval castle, the clothing throughout was modern, implying the timelessness of human violence. Amid fog and pounding drums the witches, their faces marked with red stripes and wearing heavy, ragged coats, slithered from backstage during the initial battle. Throughout the play these shadowy beings lurked in corners of the stage, as if spying on the characters, their identity as uncertain as their influence on the tragedy. From his initial reaction to [End Page 174] the witches—“Stay, you imperfect speakers” (1.3.70)—Reginald André Jackson was magnificent as Macbeth. As he paced rapidly before us during his early soliloquies, his passionate voice drew spectators ineluctably into his tortured psychomachia, as if his own ambition were a prison from which he craved escape. In his aside in 1.3, “Two truths are told,” Jackson directly addressed the audience, asking us to explain how such “horrible imaginings” could even occur to him (1.3.129, 140). After Duncan named Malcolm “The Prince of Cumberland” (1.4.39), Jackson spoke so vehemently that he practically made us accomplices in his murderous plans. Here and in later soliloquies Jackson seemed to deeply feel the horrors of Macbeth’s fecund, powerful imagination, as if unable to tolerate the strains that his murderous intentions created within him. Click for larger view View full resolution Lady Macbeth (Alexandra Tavares) is worriedly observed by the Doctor (Jonelle Jordan) and the Gentlewoman (Esther Okech) in Macbeth, dir. John Langs. Seattle Shakespeare Company, 2022. Photo by Robert Wade Photography, courtesy of Seattle Shakespeare Company. As Lady Macbeth Alexandra Tavares was equally compelling. Tavares entered reading Macbeth’s letter and smiling, often clutching it before her. Her joy at Macbeth’s promotion suggested that they had previously discussed seizing the “nearest way” to the throne (1.5.16). Her second soliloquy, after hearing that Duncan would arrive that night, was chilling. As the three witches prowled behind her, Tavares knelt—as if in [End Page 175] prayer—clutched the letter in her hands, and pleaded with the “spirits” to “unsex” her (1.5.38–39). She clutched her breasts, as if offering them to the “murdering ministers” whom she wished would “take [her] milk for gall” as she, like Macbeth later, imagined the knife that would kill Duncan (1.5.46). When Macbeth entered stage right, she leapt into his arms, embracing him and kissing him passionately. After they exited, and during the opening moment of 1.6 as Duncan and Banquo spoke, groans emanated from behind the castle door. Apparently the “night’s great business” (1.5.66) included an immediate renewal of their...