Whoa.
This play is crazysexycool.masterfullyintense.ferociouslyvisceral.
Alan Cumming’s one man Macbeth has been enjoying a short run at the Barrymore theatre and I got to see Saturday night’s performance. If you’re planning to see it I will say it is intense. From the brilliant lighting and sound effects (which reminded me so much of the tower of terror in Disney I was afraid the seats may drop out) to Cumming’s die hard performance it is brilliant and will most definitely raise your blood pressure.
Most people know the tale of Macbeth but this play is a serious tangent, which is impressive since it is actually Cumming playing all the roles. Basically a man walks into a psych ward with a brown paper bag. We can’t begin to guess what is in the bag until what I would call the second act where clues + Shakespeare’s original dialogue twists into a monologue fraught with gut wrenching double meanings. The set is most certainly a strong character in the play, reminding us constantly that he is not Macbeth but the man with the brown paper bag. Mental illness plays a dark villain and Cumming is the hero who can only communicate via a tale known so well to high schoolers nation wide.
I’ll say no more as to what happens in the play, except that the performance was Tony
worthy (he was snubbed much to the uproar of theatre lovers everywhere) and the idea of going through that every night, onstage, sometimes a bit undressed, made me cringe.
If you get a chance see it! 54 performances left!
M&R 