Ashland 2009: Macbeth by William Shakespeare

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Macbeth by William Shakespeare

The stuff of nightmares. Black magic. Murder. Ghosts. Madness. Death. Shakespeare's brooding tragedy digs into the dark territory of a man's shocking choices. Emboldened by the enigmatic visions of three witches, Macbeth and his lady slaughter their way to the Scottish throne, but attaining it brings no glory. Fresh

Comments

[narrelle]

Good lord... I don't suppose I could add them up! I've been seeing Shakespeare for about 30 years now. Measure for Measure was one of the first I ever saw live, for school, and Hamlet soon after that (at the Sydney Opera House - it was a school excursion!). I saw a Macbeth a year or two later, in Newcastle, as we were studying it that year. I did walk out of once Macbeth production for being too awful to bear (and I almost never walk out of theatre). Between film versions and stage productions, I suppose I must have seen dozens, at least. WE've also seen Antony and Cleopatra in Italian, only a month or so after seeing the Melbourne Theatre Company (MTC) perform it. WE'd seen it a year or two prior to that as well.

In Melbourne we have the Bell Shakespeare Company and they do two productions a year. MTC went through a period of doing one a year, and the Sydney Theatre Company did an amazing version of The Tempest in Australia's Bicentennial year. WIth all the arts festivals we're usually sure to see something. WE've seen Joel Edgerton in Henry IV and V. I think I've seen Hamlet at least six times live, and then there's Branagh, Olivier, Gibson and Hawke. OH, and Derek Jacoby in a BBC version I studied at school.

I've probably seen Macbeth most often on stage, and on film as well. Ian McKellen and Judy Dench were in a BBC version I recall from school, and of course Polanski. And Nicol Williams. Now Worthington, and I believe there's a relatively recent BBC production with Anthony Head as Duncan. My husband Tim played Duncan/Seward in a production in WA some years back, and he was one of the mechanicals in a local Melbourne production of Midsummer Night's Dream.

I try to see new ones whenever possible, though I fear I've missed Pericles this year. We were fortunate enough to see Barry Kosky's King Lear some years back. Still not sure I *liked* it, but it was a seminal work and still referenced today.

This doesn't count the 'retellings', like 10 Things I Hate About You. Have you seen the British 'Shakespeare REtold' series? Its version of The Taming of the Shrew is excellent.

Now I feel like attempting to tally up all the performances, live and film. I guess the short answer should have been 'a lot'.