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A spectacle? Most certainly

But Alyque Padamsee's extravagant "Macbeth" left little to visualise and was lacking in verbal magic

PHOTO: S. R. RAGHUNATHAN

A skull suspended above dark rites launched the tragedy. The blood-splashed head of Macbeth wafted in at the end, until the avenging Macduff was lit up as its bearer, placing his `trophy' on the throne.

Is this how we want to see Shakespeare? All bugles and drums, blood and gore? On the stage?

Alyque Padamsee's "Macbeth" left nothing for us to visualise — whether cauldron smoke or bloodied hands reddening their white robes as Macbeth and Lady Macbeth embrace after murdering their royal guest on his unsuspecting bed.

The packed hall, less full after the interval, welcomed every scene with applause. This was an English version of good old Tamil mythological drama, fraught with spectacle, slick in scene changes, loud in dialogue delivery and swift in progress.

Padamsee's "Macbeth" had costumes (designer Tarun Tahiliani) of yesteryear Royal Shakespeare Company robes-and-boots kind, their colours matched against the red and black background. The sets (Fali Unwalla) actualised a castle with staircases on both sides, and entrances led into the bedroom, dining hall or the throne room; or out into the courtyard, terrace or the battlefield. A platform jutting out in front spot-lit the soliloquies.

Every part of the set and stage was fully utilised. At times, lighting marked acting space on one side, while props were quietly changed in the dark area. A transparent screen at the back served many purposes. With the play of lights and projection of images, it showed scenes distant and surreal, illusory and symbolic. The crowning of Macbeth and his queen by the witches, the gliding of Banquo's ghost, the shrouding of the dead Lady Macbeth, all became such potently framed visuals behind. It was a two-edged device though. Projecting images for the prophesying spirits lost out in omniousness.

A backstage crew slid a zillion props in and out with dedicated smoothness — a vast, hellish cauldron with prancing witches sacrificing infants and what else, a general's tent, ornate bed with satin sheets, dining table loaded with dishes and goblets... Macduff's home was cannily suggested by a huge white sheet draped behind.

The music by Louis Banks complemented the pageantry-oriented style. From owl hoot to Vedic chant, the score had everything, and precisely on cue. Theatricality, it ruled.

Admirably, the lighting design was complex, ranging through all times of day and night, in many spaces within and without, from simple spot to tree shadows. Occasionally, when the actors stood outside the light circle, they manoeuvred themselves quickly into the right spot. No fumbling at all. The sound? Every word rang clear, thanks to the actors and sound management.

We all know that Macbeth has some extraordinary passages, with words and images that have haunted readers through the centuries, and resounding with the voices of thespians through the ages. Words like `incarnadine' and phrases like `all the perfumes of Arabia' send goosebumps down the spine. Macbeth's final musings on life and death with the immortal phrase "Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow..." have inspired actors and audiences to take off from the material into the meditative.

Charles Lamb had sighed over the impossibility of retaining "Macbeth's" mysterious quality in performance. Amidst the clutter of sets, props and lighting, and the literal gestures and postures, poetry was aborted in this Ace Productions' version. The verbal magic — conjured up when the imagination of the performer sparks the imagination of the audience — was missing. And where is catharsis without that?

Lushin Dubey as Lady Macbeth was wilful, strong and overt. Her twitches and jerks shaped a nervous rather than tragic character. Vijay Crishna made a hardy Macbeth, hovering between unsubtle good and evil. In a cameo as King Duncan, Gerson DaCunha left an unmistakeable impression of warm wholesomeness. When he kissed Lady Macbeth's hand, goodwill was established, in powerful contrast to all the horror to follow.

Padamsee's tantra elements were sporadic and not integrated into the performance, as in a kolam design thrown up on the theatre wall; some chants in the score; and mainly in Macbeth and Lady Macbeth shaping tantric mudras as foreplay rites. Their sivalinga was amusing, as its spiritual significance was quite beyond the pale of this interpretation.

The play was staged as part of the MetroPlus Theatre festival on August 10, at the Music Academy.

GOWRI RAMNARAYAN

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