by the Singapore Repertory Theatre
A Shakespeare classic makes its way once again to the Fort Canning Park in Singapore. Starring in the title role is Adrian Pang, winner of ST Life! Theatre Awards 2009 for Best Actor for his role in the SRT's production of Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing. This time, Adrian Pang delivers yet another tantalizing and masterful Shakespearean performance. He nails the character of Macbeth into the wall with so much ease and pizazz, leaving the audience in awe of the character's essential emotional condition. However, Macbeth's wife (Lady Macbeth) did not quite reciprocate. Patricia Toh's portrayal of the supposedly scheming, controlling and manipulative Lady Macbeth was rather strange. At times, we were distracted by her accent, at times it was the way she said certain things. One major blow was the lack of chemistry between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. Also, the ensemble was, at times, lacklustre in their performance. Perhaps it was a case of bad casting. However, there were good performances here and there by the likes of Daniel Jenkins, Keagan Kang, Adrian Pang and the three witches.
What was supposed to be a thrill ride into the makings and ramifications of murder was given a 'dirtier and grittier' feel through director Nikolai Foster's visionary retelling of the UK classic. Foster makes rather bold decisions such as modernising the context of the piece. Meaning, clinical equipment, business suits, revolvers, radios, handphones! (and all of this amidst castles sword fights, witches, prophecies and etcetera. I personally could not fathom the idea, but if you're open enough, it's an interesting way to shake things up.
Production design was good on the whole; simple, clean, classic and at times contemporary. One thing I hated was the smoke. Smoke machines were installed in the whole set and at times, all you saw were clouds of white smoke in front of the action. One might even speculate that the smoke was used to cover the more lacklustre acting of some cast members! (But who knows, really?)
In all, if you thought 2009's Much Ado About Nothing was good, you'd be a little disappointed. But hey, it never hurts to catch a contemporary staging of Shakespeare once in a while.
