VIEWPOINTS – “The Scottish Play” two-ways (or maybe three or four): CSC’s MACBETH, Roundabout’s SCOTLAND, PA, etc.

This fall in New York, “The Scottish Play” is all the rage, as evidenced by two high profile productions of and inspired by the Shakespeare tragedy that recently opened Off-Broadway.

Nadia Bowers and Corey Stoll in Shakespeare's "Macbeth" at Classic Stage Company. Photo by Joan Marcus.

Nadia Bowers and Corey Stoll in Shakespeare’s “Macbeth” at Classic Stage Company. Photo by Joan Marcus.

At Classic Stage Company, you’ll find a focused, highly effective production of Macbeth (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED), as crystallized by John Doyle (CSC’s artistic director). CSC’s mounting of the Scottish Play features a smallish but luxurious cast – powerfully led by attractive real life husband-and-wife thespians Corey Stoll and Nadia Bowers (Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, respectively), as well as the likes of beloved veterans Barbara Walsh and Mary Beth Peil – most of whom who take on the play’s multitude of characters with inspired conviction. I’ve been inconsistently impressed by Mr. Doyle’s minimalist stagings over the years, but this one’s a real winner. By putting the text first, Shakespeare’s incomparably evocative language – the imagery in Macbeth is particularly striking – burrows itself deep in your head. Indeed, once the production takes hold of the imagination, it’s hard to shake off its spell. In summary, Mr. Doyle’s muscular Macbeth is sleek, sexy, and confident, largely thanks to the commanding Mr. Stoll’s gruffly charismatic, driven, and psychologically astute performance in the title role. Macbeth is all about the realization of the dark potential of the human soul, and I don’t think I’ve come across this darkness as palpably since Gregory Doran’s terrifying 2000 Royal Shakespeare Company staging that I saw with the legendary Antony Sher and Harriet Walter (whom I would love to see take on the role of Macbeth one day).

The company of Roundabout Theatre Company's production of "Scotland, PA" by Adam Gwon and Michael Mitnick at the Laura Pels Theatre. Photo by Nina Goodheart.

The company of Roundabout Theatre Company’s production of “Scotland, PA” by Adam Gwon and Michael Mitnick at the Laura Pels Theatre. Photo by Nina Goodheart.

This fall also saw the Off-Broadway opening of Roundabout Theatre Company’s production of the new musical Scotland, PA (RECOMMENDED), Adam Gwon (best known for penning Ordinary Days) and Michael Mitnick’s adaptation of the cult 2001 movie of the same name, which is in turn based on the Bard’s tragedy. The musical (and the underlying film) resets the the Scottish Play to a small blue collar town in Pennsylvania, replacing King Duncan’s kingdom with a struggling fast food restaurant (yep, Shakespeare’s characters are now largely Mac-employees). Mr. Gwon and Mr. Mitnick were clearly inspired by dark but shamelessly entertaining musicals like Ashman and Menken’s Little Shop of Horrors (a superlative revival of which is currently in town) and Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd. However, their work only occasionally scales the inspired heights of those classics, instead opting to craft a respectable, if slightly derivative, by-the-numbers book musical (granted, a number of Mr. Gwon’s appealing songs I suspect will deservedly have staying power). Nevertheless, it’s clear from the evidence onstage at the Laura Pels Theatre that director Lonny Price and his young, committed cast – including an irresistible turn by Jay Armstrong Johnson as “Banko” – had lots of fun putting on the colorful production.

These two productions aren’t the only versions of the Shakespeare tragedy New Yorkers have been privy to. Earlier this fall, the Metropolitan Opera revived director Adrian Noble’s atmospheric production of Verdi’s efficiently plotted operatic adaptation Macbeth, starring the chillingly good duo of baritone Željko Lučić in the title role and superstar soprano Anna Netrebko as Lady Macbeth. Also, down in Chelsea, you’ll be able to catch the long-running immersive hit Sleep No More, a loosely adapted version that’s dance oriented and heavy on moody Hitchcockian noir.

 

MACBETH
Off-Broadway, Play
Classic Stage Company
1 hour, 40 minutes (without an intermission)
Through December 15

SCOTLAND, PA
Off-Broadway, Musical
Roundabout Theatre Company / Laura Pels Theatre
2 hours, 30 minutes (with one intermission)
Through December 8

Categories: Music, Off-Broadway, Opera, Other Music, Theater

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