Macbeth

Reviewed by Neal Weaver
The Shakespeare Center of Los Angeles
Through November 20

When Mrs. Patrick Campbell was rehearsing for her debut in the role of Hamlet’s Ophelia, her mentor, George Bernard Shaw, gave her a choice piece of advice: “In Shakespeare, the only justification for a pause is a fight or a procession.” It’s not a fundamental law, but it is a useful rule of thumb, and director Caitlin Hart might have been wise to heed it in this rendition of the Scottish play.

In a production that has many things going for it, the action is repeatedly stopped in its tracks for a bit of realistic behavior: We see Lady Macbeth (Alana Dietz) pausing in a confrontation with her husband to decant a bottle of wine, or we see a maidservant picking up and straightening clothing dropped on the floor, or scrubbing up the pool of blood left by Banquo’s gory death. The pauses are dead time that interrupt the flow of the action, add nothing to the meaning, and vitiate the energy and thrust of the performance.

Hart’s production is very much a mixed bag, with many virtues and many doubtful choices. The adaptation, running less than two hours without the loss of important plot points, is brisk and concise.  The fights are exciting, thanks to Jason Vaughan’s fight choreography. There’s a huge and athletic cast of 22, and there are several solid performances. But there are also some curious and quirky decisions. Why, for instance, does Macbeth (Daniel Kaemon), in the cauldron scene, visit the witches in his underwear? (Maybe to suggest that he’s merely dreaming? It’s far from clear.) Why does Hart give the final scene to a cute teddy bear-clutching Fleance (Andrew Grigorian) rather than to Malcolm, as Shakespeare intended?  Why does she spend so much time hyping Macduff’s family values? At times, her aim seems to be to give more stage time to performers in smaller roles. But meaningless moments don’t lend luster to the people performing them.

Hart has also chosen to go in for color and gender-blind casting. Thus, we have a female Queen Duncan (Ann Colby Stocking) and a female Donalbain (Ciera Jo Thompson), while Macduff’s son has become a daughter (Mia Moore). it’s a young ensemble, overall, with the youthful virtues of vitality and drive, though they can’t always muster the gravitas and resonance that mature actors might bring. And they sometimes are too intent on proving their own originality to consider the needs of the play.

But the intermission-less performance did not seem overlong, and it always held my interest. To judge by the opening night audience, the company is attracting young theatre-goers at a time when many theater companies must rely on a much older crowd. So they must be doing something right.

The Vagrancy at The Shakespeare Center of Los Angeles, 1238 West 1^st Street, Downtown. Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m., Sun., 7 p.m.; through November 20.  www.thevagrancy.brownpapertickets.com/. Running time: One hour and 40 minutes with no intermission.