Tom Rooney as Macduff (left) and André Sills as Ross in Macbeth. Robert Lepage’s reimagining of the Shakespeare play is set in the late 1990s in a Quebec motel war-torn by biker gangs.David Hou/Stratford Festival
Title: Macbeth
Written by: William Shakespeare
Performed by: Tom McCamus, Lucy Peacock, Graham Abbey, Tom Rooney, André Sills, Aidan deSalaiz, Paul Dunn, Anthony Palermo
Directed and designed by: Robert Lepage
Company: Stratford Festival in collaboration with Ex Machina
Venue: Avon Theatre
City: Stratford, Ont.
Year: Until Nov. 2, 2025
A scruffy gangster slouches in a scuzzy office. On the desk ahead of him rest a few lines of cocaine — perhaps that explains the would-be kingpin’s bloodshot eyes, his agitated demeanour. (Though those could also be chalked up to the murders — the bodies and ghosts gumming up his empire.)
Set in the late 1990s in a Quebec motel war-torn by biker gangs, Robert Lepage’s Macbeth is impressive, to be sure. A two-way mirror centre stage allows for witches (Aidan deSalaiz, Paul Dunn and Anthony Palermo) and spectres to flicker in and out of existence; souped-up e-bikes loudly vroom each time they roll across the stage, their handles gleaming in the dim light of the motel’s parking lot; bodies rise and fall through mid-air, seemingly weightless as they float.
Prologued by a gripping first scene and cinematic slate of opening credits, it’s classic Lepage, and throughout Macbeth you’ll likely find yourself asking, “How the hell did they do that?” (That’s a question perhaps best answered by the long opening night program insert thanking the production’s donors: Money. Lots of it.)
Shakespeare purists shan’t be pleased. But Lepage’s conceptual reimagining of the tragedy largely works: The play’s themes of greed and ruthless ambition translate easily to Canada’s gangs, and the introduction of illicit drugs into the Macbeths’ marriage adds a chewy layer of conflict to the couple (played by Stratford legends Tom McCamus and Lucy Peacock).
But Lepage’s filmic Macbeth, despite its ambitious scope, flexes the best of Lepage’s design sensibilities at the expense of a more crucial component of the play: the actors.
Lucy Peacock as Lady Macbeth and Tom McCamus as Macbeth.David Hou/Stratford Festival
That’s not to say Lepage’s cast isn’t great – unsurprisingly, they are. McCamus – the second protagonist of the season to fixate on “tomorrow” – peppers Macbeth’s descent into madness with acerbic wit and cruelty, leaning into Macbeth’s biker environs without feeling like a caricature. Peacock’s Lady M, too, is convincing — her “out, damned spot!” monologue is understated and truthful, more a mutter than a scream.
But Macbeth’s star-studded ensemble rarely feels like, well, an ensemble. There’s a surprising lack of chemistry between the actors – many of whom appeared together in Lepage’s 2018 Coriolanus at the Stratford Festival – and even greats such as Graham Abbey (Banquo), Tom Rooney (Macduff) and André Sills (Ross) occasionally feel like set pieces in Lepage’s larger vision, talking at rather than to each other amid the visual noise around them.
That noise is quite striking, to be fair — a pyrotechnic effect near the top of the production’s second half earned a (deserved) mid-show ovation. And Ariane Sauvé’s set, composed of huge structures that coalesce into the two-floor motel, would be right at home in a larger theatre.
But Macbeth’s tech and design take precious time for the stagehands — who got by far the biggest applause on opening night — to manoeuvre. That massive, spinning set groans as it moves, rolled along by backstage workers in conspicuous headsets and theatre blacks.
At the moment, the actors seem to be having some trouble navigating the set as it moves, gripping the onstage handholds for dear life. The motorbikes seem to be a bit of a nuisance as well — often, the actors “riding” them simply waddle across the stage, the bikes awkward and heavy between their legs, their temporary gang tattoos glinting under Kimberly Purtell’s spooky lighting design.
As well, while Lepage mostly avoids using projections to suggest setting and special effects, the few instances in which he does abandon more analogue design flourishes seem a touch underbaked. A climactic gunfight that sees Macbeth dodge “bullets” is less effective when projected bullet-holes land squarely on his chest with no impact. It’s a minor complaint, but one that somewhat epitomizes the most glaring problem with this Macbeth: Actors, in this production, occasionally seem to be an afterthought.
But so what? Thus far, at least, this year’s Stratford Festival has offered its sharpest season since the pandemic — over the course of three openings, the fest has managed to redefine a Shakespearean genre, reimagine a classic musical into a raucous three-hour dance fest, and recreate the expansive magic of film on the moderately-sized Avon Theatre stage. This Macbeth, set to be translated into French and toured around Quebec and Ontario next year, wasn’t to my taste. But its inventive design and hearty concept might encourage a new sect of theatre fans to check out the Bard — and that’s hardly an act in need of bloody revenge.
