Tale of terror in “Macbeth” is told by all-star cast at Tyrone Guthrie Theatre
by Don Heinzman
ECM Editorial Writer
The Tyrone Guthrie Theatre’s production of William Shakespeare’s play, “Macbeth,” is a stark portrayal of ambition gone mad.
A full house Thursday night at the theatre in Minneapolis gave much applause to the production which continues through April 3.
The two principals Macbeth, (Erik Heger) and Lady Macbeth, (Michelle O’Neill) give stunning dramatizations of a couple crazed with power, leaving a trail of victims and blood in their scheming wake.
Their powerful performances are necessary in this tale of terror motivated by the promises of the three weird sisters, who prophesy to Macbeth he can be King of Scotland and that the sons of Banquo will occupy the throne.
Urged on by his tantalizing and ambitious wife, Macbeth stabs King Duncan and appears on stage with blood on his hands.
At his orders, his henchmen kill his friend Banquo and Duncan’s two sons would-be heirs to the throne..
When the weird sisters tell him to beware of MacDuff, Macbeth, slowly going mad, has MacDuff’s wife and children killed in a gruesome scene.
Lady Macbeth in her famed soliloquy tries to rub the blood off her hands, eventually goes insane and kills herself.
Macbeth prepares for battle knowing from the witches that he will not be harmed, by “none of woman born” and he need not fear until Birnam wood shall come to Dunsinae Castle, unlikely that a forest could advance on a castle.
Ten thousand men advance on the castle camouflaged by the branches of Birnam, but Macbeth is undaunted knowing MacDuff was born of a woman. He learns, however, that “he was from his mother’s womb ripped.”
In a wild battle scene, Macbeth is repeatedly stabbed and the play ends with his body suspended upside down in the air, leaving the audience limp.
Joe Dowling directs a fast-paced drama with no intermission as to not interrupt the murderous adventures. He leaves little to the imagination, particularly when soldiers kill Macduff’s wife and drowns one of the little children in a bathtub in a ghastly scene.
Dowling has some surprises for the audience, which needs a little comic relief.
Hager, in the title role, is a convincing king who looks and acts the part with ranging emotions, tantalized by his wife, played by the talented, attractive and irresistible Michelle O’Neill.
Robert D. Berdahl gives a strong performance of MacDuff who triumphs in the end.
The entire cast combines to tell this gruesome story. This 50th Shakespeare play produced by the Guthrie since its beginning, merits a “full house.”
The eerie green-gray, tall-column set design is perfect and the lighting plays on the scenes that at times take the audiences breath away.
The play is staged every day except Monday at the Theater, 818S. 2nd St., Minneapolis. Call 612-377-2224.
