Just saw the Berkeley Repertory Theatre's production of Macbeth with the excellent Conleth Hill in the title role, long time Rep contributor, James Carpenter, as King Duncan, and the incomparable Frances McDormand as Lady Macbeth. Front row seats afforded an intimate connection with the actors as they drew us into this epic tale of blind ambition, supernatural machinations, murderous betrayal, the descent into madness, and the inevitable undoing of the protagonists.
Hill's performance rendered this Macbeth at once heroically tragic and eminently accessible to the audience. His encounter with the specter of the murdered Banquo in the banquet scene was as brilliant as was his final 'life, full of sound and fury; signifying nothing' soliloquy.
McDormand was mesmerizing throughout, beginning in the opening scene as one of the witches who casts the ominous spell from 'the seeds of time'. She then thoroughly enthralled as both the ambitious and manipulative spouse of her accursed partner as well as the tormented co-conspirator who sinks slowly into madness. She exquisitely rendered the sleep walking scene with delicate nuance and stunning believability. It was an honor to witness this artist in all her glory from such a close perspective.
Of course, the other player on the stage was Shakespeare himself as we were taken on a lyrical journey into another time and then, by the sheer power and beauty of the language, transported beyond the limits of time and space into a place where the artist somehow manages to unite us all in the embrace of our common humanity.
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