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The Old Globe arrests the dead butcher Macbeth and his fiend-like queen
I was disappointed. Turning Macbeth into a postmodern, absurdist play destroys the best part of the play--the psychological underpinnings and emotional reactions and the mystery. I can understand the direction for a play written in the 20th or 21st century, but this is a story with roots in an age of the divine right of kings and an atmosphere of murky moors and mists. I was thrown by a literally bouncing Macbeth and a goofy King Duncan. It is true that some of the soliloquies were very clear but at the expense of depth. At first I suspected Cake's acting was not very good, and I was troubled because he has been an interesting actor to me, but then I realized that he was very good at coping with problematic direction. I agree that Banquo, Macduff, and Malcolm are the most credible characters in this production. The use of the doll for Macduff's son with Jonathan Cake speaking his part was one conceptual piece that was compelling, but the murder of Macduff's wife and child was without any emotion; even buchery has some emotion, even that of a cold-blooded (at that point) killer like Macbeth. If this were to be in its entirety "a tale told by an idiot" that should have been signalled to the audience from the beginning. I miss the mysterious witches and the haunting line of kings. These should breath life not nihilism.— July 23, 2016 4:27 p.m.