Strange happenings and strange choices in ‘MacBeth’

Stars, hide your fires; 
Let not light see my black and deep desires.

By Eric George Tauber

Eric George Tauber
Eric George Tauber

SAN DIEGO–My guest shot me a look when I dared utter the name “Macbeth” as we took our seats at the Old Globe’s Summer Shakespeare Festival.

“Oh no,” he intoned, “now somebody’s going to die.”

“Don’t we all?” I replied. It’s considered bad luck to utter the name. So in the business, we just refer to it as “The Scottish Play.”

We looked upon a ward full of wounded soldiers in beds and old-fashioned wheelchairs. Swathed in bandages from head to toe, they’re in such bad shape that “they look not like inhabitants of the Earth.” These are the witches, crying out in drug-induced delirium. King Duncan comes to decorate the wounded for their valor … as if medals make it all better.

Jerome Preston Bates owns it as King Duncan. He carries himself with a proud bearing and the charm of a man who knows he’s in charge.

John Lavelle steals the show as the Porter with his “knock-knock” spiel, providing us some much needed comic relief after Duncan’s gruesome murder.

Jonathan Cake makes a compelling Macbeth. He’s a good soldier whose loyalty to his king is richly rewarded. He’s very good at fighting an enemy without, but lacks sure footing when wrangling the enemy within.

I was less taken with Marsha Stephanie Blake as Lady Macbeth. She’s a beautiful woman, but it was a very un-sexy choice to dress her as a WAC and seemed to weaken her prowess in beguiling her husband.

Speaking of costumes, I wasn’t sold on Macbeth’s silver pajamas. It seemed like a garment befitting a Hollywood playboy, not a battle-hardened soldier.

Timothy D Stickney is lively and fun to watch as Banquo.  He lights up the stage each time he alights upon it with a smooth, dancer’s grace. When his ghost appears at the banquet, he has an intensity that is unsettling.

Clifton Duncan gave us a moving Macduff. Fleeing for his own life with the dogs of war at his heels, he has no time to save his family. When he returns to Dunsinane, the score he settles is intensely personal.

I loved the haunting strings that accompany the witches, giving their prophecies a creepiness reminiscent of Hitchcock. The innocent child of Macduff, whom Macbeth has killed, was played by a table-top puppet and voiced by Jonathan Cake. While the manipulation was well done, it was a curious choice.

The Torah teaches, “Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.” (Ex 22:18) After seeing the “Scottish Play,” I can see why. Macbeth was a steadfast soldier, loyal to his cousin, King Duncan, until the witches planted the idea that he was destined to be king. That’s when the yetzer hara gained the upper hand and his world began to fall apart. The fear of losing his ill-gotten crown caused him to lose his head.

Macbeth is a compelling tale with a timeless lesson that leaders the world over would do well to learn. If reading Macbeth in high school left you cold, experiencing it at the Old Globe will light you up. Just bring a jacket because the Summer Shakespeare Festival is under an open sky.

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Tauber is a freelance writer specializing in the arts.  He may be contacted via eric.tauber@sdjewishworld.com.   Comments intended for publication in the space below MUST be accompanied by the letter writer’s first and last name and by his/ her city and state of residence (city and country for those outside the United States.)