If Chris Koster, Missouri's attorney-general, thought he'd start a quiet weekend in his home town by stopping in at the Rep for an evening of theater, he picked the wrong night. The Rep's raucous, highly physical, blood-soaked production of "Macbeth" looked just like a Tuesday session of the state legislature.
Paul Mason Barnes, who directed a dazzling "Saint Joan" here several years ago, made "Macbeth" into an action-adventure tale that showed a variety of influences. Cinematic violence was shown in blood-soaked sheets and a severed head in a sack, and the first-act final scene might have come from "Animal House," though the food fight was gentler. Brian A. Peters and Shaun Sheley served as fight directors in gallant style, with clashing armor and a variety of one-on-one combat sequences.
Shakespeare's plays lend themselves to lots of changes, but the Rep decided to keep his original time frame. Then, costume designer Dorothy Marshall Englis ran with a universal approach that ranged from Roman armor to 19th-century British Army greatcoats. It all worked beautifully, and Marshall found a perfect blood red to highlight garments for many characters, but to totally soak Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. Kenton Yeager's lights added an exclamation mark to many sentences and many characters, and Rusty Wandall's sound, underlined with a complete range of drumbeats, from ghostly to immediate, provided some impeccable background. It all took place on Michael Ganio's stark set, with red entrances. The stage was surrounded by boards that immediately reminds one that Shakespeare also may have invented camouflage.
Macbeth (a powerful but occasionally erratic Timothy D. Stickney) is a warrior on his way home from battle when he meets a trio of witches (a witch and two warlocks, to be exact) who predict his ascent to the throne, achieved by killing a few lords along the way. There is intrigue in his rise and his eventual fall, predicted in another meeting with the witches. Michael Keyloun, Shanara Gabrielle and David Graham Jones, who portray the witches and some other characters (much doubling in the cast) are outstanding, creating a powerful aura of mystery. They're equally powerful, or maybe more so, when they turn into brutal killers, and Jones has a brilliant turn as a servant.
Most of the cast is excellent, with many local regulars showing real style. Jerry Vogel is Duncan, Ben Nordstrom his son, Malcolm, and both are commanding presences. Jason Cannon and Christopher Hickey stand out, as does Michael James Reed, as Macduff.
Lady Macbeth, the power behind the throne, on the throne and in the bedroom, stood tall and impressively, an angel of death whose own visions of power grew during the evening, finally winding up as madness, but her speeches raised the hair on the back of the neck. Nancy Bell was an excellent Lady Macduff, but trying to economize by using her as a soldier, just didn't work, largely because her beauty was a distraction.
The acting was generally good, though spots here and there slowed the action. These should be smoothed over as the run continues, and it's a joy to hear Shakespeare's gorgeous language treated so well. At times, it was so familiar that it was like leafing through "Bartlett's Quotations." And with Shakespeare, familiarity breeds love and understanding, along with a glass through which to watch politicians, or soldiers, throwing sawdust into the gears of life.
Macbeth, a production of the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, will be on stage at the Loretto-Hilton Center through March 6.
—Joe