Preview

Macbeth Theater Review Essay Example

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
342 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Macbeth Theater Review Essay Example
A Review of Macbeth Chicago Shakespeare Theater’s Macbeth was good performance with many strong aspects. The play catches the audience’s attention from the beginning with a well-staged fight scene followed by three creepy witches; and never lets it go. Although Macbeth has been produced thousands of times, Director David H. Bell has found a way to update it with a modern twist. Unusually, the production shares a set with another play. Somehow the director has made it work with contemporary military uniforms and weapons. The main character, Macbeth, was played by Mark L. Montgomery. Mark did a wonderful job of convincing the audience that he was going crazy. Even better than Mark was Lesley Bevan, who played Lady Macbeth. Even though Lady Macbeth wasn’t the main character, Lesley made her seem just as important as Macbeth. Bernard Balbot played the porter. He made everyone in the audience laugh when his character was drunk bringing some humor to the tragedy. The setting, originally for As You Like IT, was composed of tree-like vines, a chain link fence, and scaffolding that remained the same for the whole play. The fence covered a drum set which was used throughout the play to make scenes seem more dramatic. The lighting really added to the spookiness of Macbeth. The costumes were made to fit into this post-industrial set along the makeup. It seems that everyone behind the scenes at this play made their part work. The way that this performance was put together was convincing. Overall this version of Shakespeare’s Macbeth was good. Something that was disappointing was that many of the actors played multiple characters. This got confusing after a while. Also a few of the actors lacked enough emotion. I would recommend this play, because of everything that went well, such as the amazingly choreographed fight scenes. For anyone who is looking for a present day Shakespeare tragedy, this is your

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    She will drug the kings grooms. Macbeth will then go into the king's room and murder him in his sleep.…

    • 460 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    For my film analysis, I was fortunate that there many different adaptations of the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare. Most of them are set in the period of the play, like Roman Polanski’s 2002 version, which I also viewed and found to be disappointing at best. The only good thing was the realism of the sword fighting. Realistically clumsy in their armor, which was amusing, but other than that, dull, dull, dull. Instead, I opted to view and analyze the more modern version from 2006. The 2006 version of Macbeth was adapted by Geoffrey Wright and Victoria Hill, produced by the same team and also directed by Geoffrey Wright. Victoria Hill also happens to play the role of Lady Macbeth.…

    • 1013 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    “Tongue nor heart cannot conceive nor name thee!” (2.3. 74). Thy greatest king hath been murdered. Thoughts of sorrow and wondering have filled thee. Who wouldst do such a thing? Was thy host not watchful enough with the most honored man in his presence? Maybe thou should have stayed with his Majesty for he is of the highest nobility and honor possible. Who ever hath committed this crime is guilty of murder and treason. Oh! The people, the people! What shall become of them without thy leader? Will the criminals roam the streets, with the people fearing to leave their homes? All of these are questions with no answers! I do believe it’s my turn to step in and allow myself the privilege of discovering which fiend it was that hath murdered his Majesty, the king. At first, it was thought to be the beast like guards who stood outside the king’s chamber. It deeply concerns me as to why Macbeth would dispose of them so soon after the death of his royal highness without the chance to probe their minds with questions and make them face the rest of Scotland as those whom betrayed their leader. Maybe it was the sons of the great Duncan which have set up the murderous plot to gain the throne for their own selfish purpose. The fact that they have left the country and fled in opposite directions is beyond my knowledge. If they wanted to be king, why murder your own father and flee to a different country…? What about the recently promoted Thane of Cawdor? He holds much too great of an honor and sincerely respected Duncan. But still, he did murder the guards; maybe he was hiding something like a vital piece of information. Now that I think of it, if I had been the one in Macbeth’s position, I too may have lost my temper. In the wise words of Macbeth, “Who can be wise, amazed, temp’rate, and furious,/ Loyal, and neutral, in a moment? No man.” (2.3. 27-28).…

    • 1461 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Above all else, the cinematography is the driving force behind this adaptation. Shakespeare’s plays are often blank slates, open to interpretation and direction. This interpretation happens to be absolutely gorgeous. It's dirty, bleak, gray, and melancholy. Fassbender and Cotillard are good enough to entertain even in an endless barrage of close ups. The most beautifully shot sequence of the year occurs at the end of the film when Macduff and Macbeth fight in the fire and ash of a burning…

    • 427 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Macbeth vs Scotland, Pa

    • 1155 Words
    • 5 Pages

    William Shakespeare 's Macbeth has always been considered one of the literary worlds most celebrated tragedies. It is arguably the darkest and most gruesome of his plays. The protagonist, Macbeth, is the poster child for tragic hero, "a literary character who makes an error of judgment or has a fatal flaw that, combined with fate and external forces, brings on a tragedy" (www.dictionary.com). And until recently we were satisfied with that… At the Cannes Film Festival in 2001, a low budget comedy was unveiled. It was called Scotland, PA. This film was written by a first-time director, Billy Morrissette, and depicts the familiar story in a surprisingly different form.…

    • 1155 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    All through acts four and five we see Macbeth change dramatically. He went from a trusted thane to blood thirsty killer, killing people for no reason sometimes. Macbeth’s hubris, pathos and Macbeth’s internal struggle all become clear in these last two acts.…

    • 588 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    ‘Macbeth’ by William Shakespeare is a very unusual play, the characters aren’t part of your expectations especially Lady Macbeth. Shakespeare made a clear opposite feature between Lady Macbeth and Macbeth, which is a very challenging yet effective technique.…

    • 1578 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Is Macbeth A Tragic Hero

    • 673 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Shakespeare’s Macbeth is an excellent tragedy that deserves great recognition. This play contains a tragic hero who is brave, has to make choices and restores order. There is fear and pity throughout the play caused by the murders of Duncan, Banquo and Macduff’s family. As well, the play ends in hope because Macbeth is killed, Malcolm is crowned king and peace is restored in Scotland. These are all key aspects to a great…

    • 673 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Macbeth Play Analysis

    • 965 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Lady Macbeth and Macbeth’s relationship takes a backseat to their individual narrative trajectories. When they are alone together, there is something about the relationship that lacks chemistry; it lacks something in the tradition of Frank and Claire Underwood, Bonnie and Clyde, the stage versions of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. Fassbender and Cotillard don’t feel like partners-in-crime driven away into their respective descents into madness, but a married couple that realized upon the death of their child that they were never that close to begin with, a couple that was really just in it for the great angry sex. Overall, the relationship feels a little too superficial, to the point where it almost doesn’t make sense for Macbeth to mourn Lady Macbeth’s death. In relation to the text, on a strictly line level, the performances are severely disappointing. The dialogue is often muttered and inaudible, a fault that may be forgiven in light of the gloomy and ominous tone of the film itself. But more importantly, none of the actors seem to connect with the language in a way that makes the delivery meaningful or even comprehensible to the viewer. And because so much of the text has been pared down to accommodate the battles scenes, every word counts more than it would…

    • 965 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Macbeth practice essay

    • 580 Words
    • 3 Pages

    In the play Macbeth written by William Shakespeare, being a tragic hero or villain is a debatable dilemma of Macbeth's character. Some people think Macbeth is a tragic-hero because he is forced to commit his crimes by the spell of the three witches and the pressure from his wife. But other people think that Macbeth may be a villain due to his bloody deeds and over-ambition.…

    • 580 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The audience has now witnessed the complete change in Macbeth. As said on UK essas.com, “By bringing the image of blood on stage and making it virtually ubiquitous, from the bleeding Captain to the beheaded Macbeth at the end,…

    • 520 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Macbeth: Flop Performance

    • 562 Words
    • 3 Pages

    After hearing of the flop performance of Macbeth at the college I ventured to find another performance to critique that was of good theatrical merit. I found a performance at the Chesapeake Shakespeare Company of Macbeth. It was performed on a thrust stage I got a seat on the right side middle area. I had a good view throughout and the actors seemed to understand their surroundings and their performance was accommodating to all sides of the thrust stage. As I had no prior knowledge of Macbeth or the story line going in for critique purposes I did prior research on the storyline so I could focus in on the elements of production and acting. While I’d like to note they stuck very close to the themes and dialogue as Shakespeare wrote it. Never before have I been to a performance of this at this caliber especially not in a thrust theater it was emotionally involved the scenes really jumped out and were thrusting towards us as the actors voices echoed through the theater.…

    • 562 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Macbeth Comparison

    • 623 Words
    • 3 Pages

    As we all know movies and plays are really different, for Macbeth the differences were quite extreme. From the witches to the killing we see multiple differences that are not telled in the play. Yet all in all they are both great attributes to Macbeth and for…

    • 623 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Sleepwalking In Macbeth

    • 797 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Lady Macbeth is a character that has multiple weaknesses that are not easily found through her words. For example, her insecurity about herself. I would make sure the audience knows about the weaknesses by using vague hesitant body and face movements throughout the play. It is necessary to foreshadow these imperfections of the character, but not too much. The audience has to question whether or not Lady Macbeth is as clever and evil as she thinks she is. The only way to find out where in the play to perform these actions is by analyzing the play. Every answer for an actor is inside the play, but a lot of the times not just in the words the actor…

    • 797 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Shakespeare has been a respected poet and playwright for hundreds of years. A controversial point in the stage productions of The Tragedy of Macbeth, written by William Shakespeare, is whether or not an actor should play the ghost of Banquo or if the Ghost does not appear on stage; thus the audience does not see him as Macbeth does. Using an actor to portray the ghost of Banquo better relates to the play’s themes and the development of the play’s characters. Specifically, using an actor to play the ghost of Banquo illustrates Macbeth’s mental state, emphasizes how Macbeth’s tragic flaw led to his demise, and provides a way for Macbeth to play off of the actor’s actions and facial expressions.…

    • 1077 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays