Kamal Bolden and Julanne Chidi Hill (Photo by Craig Schwartz)
Reviewed by Deborah Klugman
A Noise Within
Through March 9
Director Andi Chapman’s staging of Macbeth at A Noise Within begins with a scene one won’t find in the text. A seated Lady Macbeth (Julanne Chidi Hill), alone on stage, nestles a bundle —seemingly an infant — to her breast. Then Macbeth (Kamal Bolden) appears. In gentle embrace, the couple begin a slow tender dance, both hovering over the child. Then something happens; there is a fluttering, and the bundle Lady Macbeth has been holding comes apart and drifts into the air.
It’s a compelling way to begin this story of murder and mayhem. There’s promise here of an imaginative interpretation — one that looks into the hearts and souls of these two principal characters who are to commit dastardly deeds for the sake of power. But it’s a promise never kept. Instead, the rest of the production plays out, performance-wise, in the kind of declamatory style that has school kids fidgeting and consigns Shakespeare to the realm of scholarship.
That’s regrettable given the superlative panorama presented by Nicholas Santiago’s stunning projection design, experienced against the backdrop of Stephanie Kerley Schwartz’s receptively spartan set. In the opening act, you have towering Gothic arches stretching to the ceiling, signs of the Cross sparely but judiciously placed, and an impression of cavernous spaces that stretch back to an infinity. It’s a visual realization of a haunted macrocosm that lingers. Later, Santiago creates delectable images, exterior and otherwise, of Louisiana circa the turn of the 20th century, which is when this particular rendering is set. (I wasn’t entirely clear what this setting added to the story, especially as Scotland continues to be referenced in the dialogue. But Santiago’s visuals dazzle nonetheless.)
Sound designer Jeff Gardner delivers an eerie, at times thunderous, audio to match (though Andrew Schmedake’s lighting can be too dim — it’s often hard to make out the facial expressions of the actors). Ned Mochel’s fight choreography highlights the most gripping scenes in the play, including the brutal murder of Lady Macduff (Mildred Marie Langford) and her child (Brooklyn Bao) (This scene was deemed too graphic to present throughout much of the 18th and 19thcenturies and as such was omitted) and the final edge-of-your-seat showdown between Macbeth and the avenging grief-crazed Macduff (Ben Cain). And when opposition to Macbeth’s perfidy brings a storming rebellion in the end, stirring within this critic was the fervent, desperate wish that some of us might do the same today.
Throughout, Bolden in particular channels tremendous energy into his verbal performance, with a physicality that is notable. But we never really get to see what guilt and ambition have done to Macbeth’s soul, nor to the soul of his wife. Surely this is what connects us to the story, and without that connection, the drama falters.
A Noise Within, 3352 Foothill Blvd., Pasadena. Thurs.-Sat., 7:30 pm, Sat.-Sun., 2 pm, dark Thurs., March 6; thru March 9. www.anoisewithin.org Running time: approximately two hours and 15 minutes with an intermission.
