I attended the Feb 23rd evening performance of Macbeth, starring Patrick Stewart and Kate Fleetwood and I've been procrastinating posting a review. I'm not sure what value I can add to the numerous professional reviews that have already been posted and read by many, but since quite a few of the posts of this blog involve Patrick Stewart I felt I owed it to my readers to share something of my experience. After tossing a few ideas about in my head I decided that what I could post about was MY experience at the play and the Q&A that I attended the following day.
Getting to the play was an adventure in itself and we very nearly didn't make it. This was the weekend with all the snow/sleet and messy winter weather that closed airports and cancelled flights. When we arrived in Detroit on Friday, Feb 22, our flight to New York had been cancelled. The airline informed us there were no flights available until Monday. Since this would have meant missing the play and the Q&A we were faced with two options, fly back home and find another way to get to New York, or scrap the trip to New York and just go somewhere else for the weekend. We went with the first option and flew back home. I wasn't keen on driving in bad weather, so we waited and left Saturday morning, leaving us with about 10 hours to get there. The drive took us about 7 hours and went pretty smoothly. After arriving in New York things went a whole lot smoother.
The Harvey Theater, part of the Brooklyn Academy of Music, was smaller than what I expected. According to the website, it seats 874. Our seats were seven rows back, off to the left (if you are facing the stage) and just about in front of the sink, where many interesting things happened. When I was fortunate enough to catch Patrick Stewart's one man version of A Christmas Carol at the La Jolla Playhouse in 1994, a theater which according to its website seats 492, I recall being about 13 rows back and yet somehow I seemed much, much closer to the stage at the Harvey Theater, even though there were only 6 rows difference in seats. Perhaps it is because the stage at the Harvey Theater is not raised and that the first row of seats literally rings the stage. Whatever the reason, when one of the actors looked in my direction, it felt like they were actually looking at me, not just at some point over my head. I could clearly see their eyes, facial expressions, props and a lot of little details. There were times in the play where the actors would enter/exit from the audience and there was one particular segment where one of the actors was shining a flashlight at random audience members and incorporating them into the scene. All these little details, pulled the audience in and at least from my perspective made it almost feel like I was part of it, rather than just a spectator. There has been so much written already about the technical details of the play, the use of video screens, the music, the freight elevator, there really isn't much I can add. I will say, however, that it all worked very well. I was a bit skeptical when I'd heard that there were going to be video screens and automatic rifles and other modern elements. But the director's modernizations fit in so well, it did not seem the least bit gimmicky.
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There's already been quite a lot written about the performances of the cast. One thing that came out during the Q&A I attended on Sunday, was that Patrick Stewart was feeling under the weather on Saturday and wasn't even sure he was going to be able to go on. He chose to go on, but he said he altered his delivery during the performance and really concentrated on controlling his voice. We'd noticed that at times he sounded a little hoarse, but I thought that was by design, to emphasize Macbeth's weariness towards the end of the play. I feel privileged to have watched a unique performance, I only wish I lived closer to New York to be able to attend a future performance and compare how they differ. Regardless, his Macbeth was outstanding. Kate Fleetwood was very convincing as Lady Macbeth. I'd not seen her perform before, but she was quite believable as an ambitious young wife in the early acts and then as one horrified and wracked with guilt by play's end. I would love the opportunity to see her in something else. The entire cast was splendid.
Another surprise for us, was the use of real props. There's been quite a lot written about Patrick Stewart's deliberate making of a sandwich (it was turkey, mustard and a pickle on pumpernickel bread by the way) but not many have mentioned that they actually ate the sandwich during the play. It couldn't have been easy to deliver lines with a mouthful of turkey sandwich. He also decanted a real bottle of port, tied a bow tie without using a mirror, and chambered blank rounds into a weapon. He mentioned during Sunday's Q&A some of the differences in weapon control laws which mandated some changes to his routine backstage before entering a scene. Perhaps what struck me most from the Q&A was how much attention to detail, including deciding what kind of bread was used to make the sandwich, has gone into this performance. He also mentioned that each detail of his groping of Lady Macbeth had been approved by the director, Kate Fleetwood's husband.
What did I come away with from this experience? Quite a few things actually. A greater appreciation of the theater and in particular Shakespeare. When I was in high school an English teacher pretty much ruined Macbeth by reading it aloud to us in a monotone. The words may have been familiar, but before seeing this performance, they were just words. This is where I think the modernization really worked as well. It made the play relevant, now, not just as a classic to be appreciated for its art. Attending the Q&A with Patrick Stewart were some of the most enjoyable 90 minutes of the weekend. He was charismatic, gracious and genuinely interested in getting our feedback. Hearing the rationale behind why scenes were played the way they were as well as the acting techniques and other behind the scenes information was fascinating. He also has a wicked sense of humor.
I hope to be able to attend other theatrical performances in the future. We really enjoyed ourselves that weekend and I don't think I'd realized just how much of a rut I've been in until I spent a weekend in New York. So many things I enjoy have been put on the back burner. Even this blog has long been silent. Besides attending an awesome play and a rare Q&A opportunity, one of the most important things I took away was that I think I found a little piece of myself that had been temporarily lost.
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Tonight marked the start of Macbeth on Broadway and a Newsweek reporter tried to put down Star Trek fans in a Q&A with Patrick Stewart, but he wasn't taking the bait. I've never had a high opinion of Newsweek but these questions were lame even for them. At least there was a nice picture accompanying it.
