MACBETH
Unfortunately, the production disintegrates when it goes into action. It turns out the leaves are there for the characters to roll around in, orgasmically or remorsefully. (That motif seems inspired by Macbeth’s line, “My way of life is fallen into the sere, the yellow leaf . . . ” This is the first time I’ve ever seen this device, sometimes called in the classroom a “central visual metaphor,” employed in a theater.) The rain ensures that Macbeth and Banquo can be surprised in the almost-altogether by three exceptionally horny witches done up in mummy drag. The Last Supper tableau and Bunuel-esque furniture- biting, though interesting, contribute nothing to our understanding of the play. Nor does the one-man band, making incidental music that ranges from folk-blues with falsetto vocal and body drum to wavering trills on flute or saxophone.
