Sometimes it's not so good to be the king. Especially if, at your wife's prompting, you've slaughtered a number of people, including a rival's wife and children, to get "the golden round." Besides, who wants to be king of Scotland, eating all that haggis, except maybe Idi Amin? I enjoyed reading the play, partly because it was short and relatively simple to follow. Then I saw this on PBS when it was first shown in the US and was impressed especially by Nicole Williamson's performance as MacBeth. Now, having just seen it again on DVD, I'm not so sure why. When MacBeth is his normal self, he's just fine. But when he gets agitated he tends to roar out his speeches and punctuate them with a hoarse, feral, indrawn breath. After a while you begin almost to disregard the speech and concentrate on the ragged, half-hysterical inspirations. This may prove to be the case especially if your state of consciousness has been, in certain respects, subject to chemical alteration. A word to the wise.
The responsibility may not lie entirely with Williamson's performance though. On this DVD, everyone seemed to take loud breaths, whether the situation demanded it or not. And I had more trouble than I remembered, just following the dialog, so the problem may have to do with technical aspects of the sound recording rather than with the acting. In any case, Williamson's performance may be overwrought on film but fine for a stage. He does everything but explode.
And when he sneers at fate, he really sneers. His reading of "tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow...." is slow and "important." But it's a heck of a way to react to the death of your wife, your "poor chuck." That's as much Shakespeare's fault as Williamson's. The script has its clumsy moments. As I recall, the play wasn't even clear about whether MacBeth was killed and had his head lopped off on-stage or off-stage. (Maybe both.) But with all that, how can you torpedo a play with such impact? You can't. Or -- well, I guess you could, but that doesn't happen here. What a play! Lady MacBeth with her sleep disorder -- a combination of REM sleep ideation without the usual accompanying paralysis. And I must say, all the ham aside, Williamson's reading of "Is this a dagger which I see before me?", the first of his hallucinatory episodes, is powerfully done. I don't fault MacBeth for fouling the feast at which Banquo's ghost appears. Oh, sure, it looks freaky enough. But I've known ordinary people who would be eager to spoil a big dinner through some imagined temporary infirmity -- and enjoy every minute of it.
This particular rendition of the play evidently isn't everyone's favorite but I'd recommend it. You have to get through any problems with the audio.
The responsibility may not lie entirely with Williamson's performance though. On this DVD, everyone seemed to take loud breaths, whether the situation demanded it or not. And I had more trouble than I remembered, just following the dialog, so the problem may have to do with technical aspects of the sound recording rather than with the acting. In any case, Williamson's performance may be overwrought on film but fine for a stage. He does everything but explode.
And when he sneers at fate, he really sneers. His reading of "tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow...." is slow and "important." But it's a heck of a way to react to the death of your wife, your "poor chuck." That's as much Shakespeare's fault as Williamson's. The script has its clumsy moments. As I recall, the play wasn't even clear about whether MacBeth was killed and had his head lopped off on-stage or off-stage. (Maybe both.) But with all that, how can you torpedo a play with such impact? You can't. Or -- well, I guess you could, but that doesn't happen here. What a play! Lady MacBeth with her sleep disorder -- a combination of REM sleep ideation without the usual accompanying paralysis. And I must say, all the ham aside, Williamson's reading of "Is this a dagger which I see before me?", the first of his hallucinatory episodes, is powerfully done. I don't fault MacBeth for fouling the feast at which Banquo's ghost appears. Oh, sure, it looks freaky enough. But I've known ordinary people who would be eager to spoil a big dinner through some imagined temporary infirmity -- and enjoy every minute of it.
This particular rendition of the play evidently isn't everyone's favorite but I'd recommend it. You have to get through any problems with the audio.