Chris Mackie as Macbeth

Credit: Barbara Pedrick

Spot On

Thoroughly modern Macbeth works surprisingly well

Not many teenagers are into 400-year-old plays, so you’ve gotta admire Kaleidoscope Theatre’s pluck for serving up Shakespeare’s Macbeth to its current crop of young audiences. Then again: spooky witches, bloody murders, vicious fights . . . throw in a sexy fembot and you’ve got everything needed to keep kids awake in a darkened theatre. And if you can live with a couple of gender switches, a highly trimmed script and an overall concept aimed at the Blu-Ray generation, there’s a lot to like in this Macbeth. Directed with passion and panache by Leslie Bland and solidly anchored by a trio of great local actors (Roderick Glanville, Christopher Mackie and Trevor Hinton), this a buff Bard for 21st-century audiences.

Clearly set in contemporary times—think the Irish troubles transposed to Scotland—and busily performed by a solid cast of seven, the original script has been trimmed to a brisk 100 minutes but all the essential elements, scenes and characters are there. Shakespearean purists, a vanishing breed, will likely chafe at both the abbreviated text and its oft-times staccato delivery (although the channel-surfing mash-up of “Double double, toil and trouble” is hilarious and effective), but there’s no doubting director Bland’s intention here: make Macbeth a cautionary multimedia tale for these jumpcutting times.

Mackie (The Pillowman) plays the title role with an undercurrent of taut menace; far from an uncertain schemer manipulated by his wife, this Macbeth seems keen to seize and consolidate power. Alas, this undercuts the role of the dreaded Lady M, which seemed reflected in Melissa Oei’s soft performance; she was better as one of the most excellent witchy trio rounded out by John Emmet Tracy and Tonya Albers. Hinton (Richard III) and Glanville both pull effective double-duties in their roles, notably the former’s fierce final battle as Macduff and the latter’s believably betrayed friend Banquo.

Though minimal, Kaleidoscope’s usual fine design is in evidence here, notably in Carole Klemm’s simple but effective set, Jamie Nesbitt’s of-the-moment projections ((which cleverly both set the scene and advance the plot) and Rebekah Johnson’s onstage rock-star sidelighting.

Despite a dress-rehearsal appearance of the infamous curse (one that forced Mackie to perform with a knee brace opening night), there’s little to fear about this production of the Scottish play. Fast-paced, exciting and seemingly lifted from today’s headlines, this is Macbeth as it no doubt seemed to its original audience.

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Macbeth
8pm Friday, May 30
2pm Sunday, May 31
Belfry Arts Centre,  1291 Gladstone
Tickets $19.95-$22.05 
250-385-6815