Macbeth (2017)

Macbeth: Directed by Antoni Cimolino, Shelagh O’Brien. With Sarah Afful, Rodrigo Beilfuss, Michael Blake, Tim Campbell. Inspired by the prophecies of three witches and encouraged by his ambitious wife, a murderous king claws his way to power. The Stratford Festival’s chilling production of Macbeth will haunt your dreams and leave you tingling.

“All in all, a solid stage production of Macbeth.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe good stuff:n1. Excellent use of lighting.n2. Cyrus Laneu0026#39;s performance as the porter – played with comic gusto. The best Iu0026#39;ve seen, despite verging on anachronism (which you almost have to do if you break the 4th wall to a 21st century audience)n3. Antoine Yaredu0026#39;s performance as Malcolm – Malcolm almost always ends up being rather forgettable – he doesnu0026#39;t have many lines, and even the ones he does have are often cut (because directors donu0026#39;t know what to do with the Macduff/Malcolm interview, for example). Yaredu0026#39;s makes Malcolm come alive – I though his reaction to Duncanu0026#39;s death especially moving.n4. The scenes with the witches are clever without reaching for novelty.nThe sword fights are well choreographed and, true to the play, both Duncan and Macbeth die offstage. n5. Krystin Pellerinu0026#39;s performance as Lady Macbeth, while not brilliant, is nevertheless consistently strong. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe not-so-good:n1. Sad to say, Ian Lake does not impress as Macbeth – he portrays him as more or less a young meathead, especially in the beginning. To my mind he bungles the early monologues and soliloquies that are supposed to show the depth of Macbethu0026#39;s character as he struggles earnestly with his own conscience. Lakeu0026#39;s portrayal of post-murder Macbeth is creditable, although his teary u0026quot;Tomorrow and tomorrowu0026quot; soliloquy is only so-so.”