This production is English Pocket Opera
Company’s eighth collaboration with undergraduates studying for the BA degree
in Performance Design and Practice at CSM, and it provided an opportunity for
these students to engage with many aspects of the design process and to impress
us with their creative flair, and theatrical and musical awareness.
Dispensing with stage sets and relying on costume, props and lighting (a
stunning design by Alex Hopkins which juxtaposed warmth and coolness most
powerfully) to work their imaginative magic, the eight young designers
fashioned the fairly small Platform Theatre into both the expansive bleakness
of the heath and the claustrophobic chambers of Macbeth’s castle with equal
persuasiveness.
There were some innovative and striking effects. Within the castle three
tapered candles, suspended aloft like misshapen stalactites, formed suggestive
motifs as Macbeth lunged frantically at the imagined dagger which lures him
towards evil. Later their number magnified and their distortions augmented:
grotesque tubers, their light-bulbs flashing erratically, they embodied the
monstrous disorder of Macbeth’s own mind, one crown-shaped miscreation
dominating his consciousness. The entrance of King Duncan was similarly
startling and thought-provoking. Entering from the rear of the audience,
bathing the previously shadowed auditorium and stage in a haze of glowing
golden light, Duncan’s attendants held an out-sized, be-tasselled crown above
his head. Turned on its side this glowing circle was both an emblem of
ambition’s trivial pursuit of power and a symbol of inescapable fate: Duncan
slept through the gleaming ring to his bedchamber, and certain death. Then,
contemplating their murderous deed, Macbeth and his wife stood either side of
the gilded ring which intimated the disfigured love which has driven them to
their act of violence and folly.
Designer Rosemary Elliott-Dancs’ Banquet Scene was an arresting coup
de theatre∏ which drew a gasp from the unsuspecting audience.
Crimson-gowned ‘table-bearers’ — their culinary fare borne atop outsize
Philip Treacy-style millinery — paraded and assumed their positions at the
back of the stage square. When Macbeth’s ghost-strewn delusions commenced,
they dropped to the floor just as a huge, red bunraku effigy reared
up, its white eyes gaping, its gnarled hands grasping at the hallucinating
protagonist. Equally entrancing and chilling was the appearance of the
Apparitions: as each Witch stood, in turn, with the circle inscribed in the
stage, lurid projections formed amid the blue glow, mouthed their mystical
prophecies and dissolved to wisps of smoky light. The Kings who then process
before Macbeth were graced with beautifully ornate masks, a sign to the ailing
regicide of the nobility and inner beauty that he lacks.
Musical standards were high too. The star of the show was Anna Gregory’s
Lady Macbeth — fittingly, given that it is she who, with the Witches, pushes
Macbeth to his foul, filthy deeds Indeed, her costumes throughout intimated the
unfeminine confidence of one who repeatedly questions her husband’s
masculinity: the black smock, accessorised with dagger, of the opening act was
ornamented with golden regalia upon her accession to the throne, but even in
her decline she retained a suggestion of military mind-set — her nightgown
evoking her husband’s silver chainmail. Gregory has a glossy tone, but she
was not afraid to risk the occasional stridency to suggest the emotional
extremes which fuel Lady Macbeth’s treacheries and lust. Her dramatic skills
flourished in the Banquet Scene, and both her love for her husband and her
unbridled ambition were evident in the Act 3 duet in which the pair plan the
death of Fleance. Gregory demonstrated considerable vocal power and control:
trills were crisply executed, pitch was well-centred through even the fiercest
runs, and the tone was appealing and bright.
As her husband, baritone Keel Watson was less secure initially but soon
inspired both pity and horror in equal measure. Watson is a fine actor and used
his voice most expressively, switching from fear and vulnerability to brutal
defiance, and judging the pace and tenor of the role skilfully. His voice can
be both nimble and sturdy, and he used it with intelligence and discretion:
Macbeth’s relationship with Gregory’s Lady Macbeth was progressively more
persuasive and Watson’s distracted dismissal of the Doctor (Simon Wilding)
and Gentlewoman (Mai Kikkawa), who bring him news of his wife’s decline, was
saddening evidence of his own loss of humanity.
Wilding was strong, too, as Banquo; and his scene with Fleance (Tatiana
Delaunay) was touching, a fabric chequerboard suggesting the inevitability of
their fates. Tenor Paul Featherstone was impressive as Macduff — all
imperiousness and indignation — and interacted well during the more
conversational scenes. His Act 4 aria, in which he declares his determination
to avenge the deaths of his wife children was emotionally affecting, and
revealed a tenor of appealing power and which can carry emotion, although it
was unfortunate that the pitch so often strayed upwards.
The three Witches — Grace Nyandoro, Rosalind O’Dowd and Grainne Gillis
— were fairly successful in overcoming Verdi’s rather tame,
‘rum-te-tum’ musical evocation of their evil. Three ladders adorned the
first appearance of the heath, presumably suggesting a descent into the Hadean
realms and the psychological hell from which Macbeth will struggle futilely to
escape. Black-masked, the Witches moved with menace; intonation took a little
while to settle, but the female voices were individually characterised and
blended pleasingly.
The EPOC community chorus, cloaked in shapeless, colourless gowns and hoods
for much of the performance, had their moment as the ‘trees of Birnam
Wood’: ultimately their natural-toned bunting foliage ‘buried’ the
defeated Macbeth — the last of the production’s many economical and
engaging visual gestures.
I enjoyed this performance immensely. The lighting scheme, design details,
strong musical qualities and theatrical immediacy made the two hours fly by.
Much of this success was undoubtedly due to Musical Director and pianist,
Philip Voldman, whose sterling accompaniment was startlingly alert to the
dramatic intent and mood of each scene. Voldman needed every ounce of his
considerable stamina and skill to galvanise the entire cast to aspire so high.
Primary school children attending the schools’ matinee performances may find
that a lot is demanded of them, however, given that there is no interval. But,
once again EPOC and the students of CSM have shown that opera does not need
grand budgets to reach out to its audience: just passion, resourcefulness and
creative discipline.
Claire Seymour
Cast and production information:
Macbeth — Keel Watson, Lady Macbeth — Anna Gregory, Banquo/Doctor
— Simon Wilding, Macduff — Paul Featherstone, 1st Witch —
Grace Nyandoro, 2nd Witch — Rosalind O’Dowd, 3rd
Witch — Grainne Gillis, Malcolm — Alexander Wall, Lady in Waiting — Mai
Kikkawa, Duncan — Will Ferguson, Fleance — Tatiana Delauney; Director —
Paul Featherstone, Musical Director/Pianist — Paul Voldman, Lighting Designer
— Alex Hopkins, Make Up — Helena Jopling and Georgia Hallgalley.
Designers: Emily Bestow, Rosemary Elliott-Dancs, Katrina Felice,
Harriet Fowler, Rosie Gibbens, Alice Guile, Rosemary Millbank, RoÌsÌn
Straver. Central St. Martin’s, London, Wednesday,
28th January 2015.
image=http://www.operatoday.com/Macbeth_Olbinksi.png
image_description=Macbeth by Rafal Olbinksi
product=yes
product_title=English Pocket Opera Company: Verdi’s Macbeth
product_by=A review by Claire Seymour
product_id=Above: Macbeth by Rafal Olbinksi