Glasgow

A Father’s Grief Turns to Madness: National Theatre of Scotland’s Macbeth

Edinburgh Expeditions

Promo portrait of Alan Cumming in Macbeth, yanked from scotsman.com

On Sunday, I had the privilege of attending The National Theatre of Scotland’s production of Macbeth, starring Alan Cumming. It was an incredibly powerful, poignant show–not only for its reimagining of the Bard’s play, but for its comments on the madness of grief. Alan Cumming tackles all of the roles but two–the porter and the doctor. He, as the patient, slips between characters mostly smoothly (it took a few moments to differentiate between characters at times).

The set design was incredible. As a former techie, sets are one of the first things I notice. Glasgow’s Tramway 1, where the show is being performed until 30 June, is a small, intimate venue. There is no curtain, and the audience is free to look at the set, that of a mental institution, in its cold, mint green splendour. There is a tub, several beds, and CCTV cameras, which are used to great effect, especially with the Weird Sisters.

The sound design is great. It is subtle, effective, and is not obvious, which is as it should be. It, like the lighting, highlights various points of the performance without being overbearing.

Now, to the performance.

One may initially think that Cumming is the titular Macbeth, but as the character is seen outside of his mad recitation of Macbeth, the audience realizes he is Macduff. With him, he carries a child’s woolen jumper. He takes it from the paper bag holding his personal effects; he looks at it sadly, with love; and then the Macduff murders occur. Whether or not this is what the directors intended, I’m not sure, but it’s what I got out of it. Through this staging, Macbeth became more than a tale of a power-mad couple who bring about their own demises through greed. It’s the story of a man undergoing deep grief, who loses more than the rest. Whilst Macbeth, Duncan and Banquo may lose their lives (and Macbeth his wife), it is Macduff who suffers worst of all. He loses his family, those who he cares for and loves best of all.

Macbeth runs until 30 June before it moves to the Lincoln Center in New York.

What’s On the Bookshelf? Vol. 4

What's On the Bookshelf?

Between yesterday and today, I managed to down Alexander McCall Smith’s The World According to Bertie, the fourth book in his 44 Scotland Street series. Previously, I reviewed Espresso Tales, the second book in the series. And no, I haven’t read the third.

That’s part of the charm of the series. You don’t have to read them in order. If you wanted to, you could even start with the fourth book.

My favorite story line follows Bertie, the perpetual six year old forced to go to saxophone lessons, yoga, and a psychotherapist. In this book, he has a new baby brother named Ulysses. His parents always lose their red Volvo, but this time, they manage to outdo the leaving-it-in-Glasgow situation from Espresso Tales.

Bertie is so charming and fun to read about because of his youth, and he’s precocious without being obnoxious as hell. The poor kid just wants to be like everyone else. He wants to wear jeans, have a white bedroom and play with trains rather than wearing “crushed-strawberry dungarees,” live in a pink room (his mother wants to desensitize him to color prejudices) and being forced to play house with the obnoxious Olive. There’s a little bit of Bertie in us all, I think, and that’s what makes him so endearing.