Macbeth in Africa shakes up Arts Festival
Macbeth
PRODUCTION COMPANY Third World Bunfight DIRECTED AND DESIGNED: Brett Bailey
MUSIC: Fabrizio Cassol, adapted from Verdi’s Macbeth CONDUCTOR: Premil Petrovic GENRE: Theatre, Opera, Performance Art DURATION: 1hr 40mins LANGUAGE: Italian opera with English surtitles
AGES: 12+ AVAILABLE FROM: July 1
Witches, a prophesy, and lots of death. is quite possibly
Macbeth the bloodiest of Shakespeare’s plays, and one of the most famous adapted for the operatic stage. Brett Bailey’s take on Giuseppe Verdi’s sees
Macbeth the Scotsman reimagined as a Congolese warlord and the story set in the Great Lakes region of Central Africa.
This is an inspired artistic choice that pulls the narrative into the 20th century and keeps it powerfully relevant.
The adaption and interpretation of Verdi’s original score by Belgian composer Fabrizio Cassol is masterful.
There are African musical elements skilfully blended with 19th century Romanticism that will perhaps not sit well with purists.
However, it does broaden its appeal to those who may otherwise never have watched an opera.
What also sets this opera apart from many others is that there is no love story at its core. It is a story of greed, tyranny and political corruption.
This performance of Bailey’s
was filmed at the
Macbeth Teatro Politeama as part of the Napoli Teatro Festival in 2016. The singers are accompanied by the No Borders Orchestra under the baton of Premil Petrovic, with the orchestra positioned stage right of the singers.
Bailey’s minimalist approach to staging would allow for a work such as this to be successfully staged in virtually any venue and the visuals used for this production were a mix of photographs and digital designs with great success.
The opening of the opera quickly sets the scene and while the singers take a bit of time to settle into the flow of the performance, it picks up momentum relatively swiftly.
Owen Matsileng as
Macbeth has some good moments throughout, although at times he is overpowered by the orchestra. His acting was a bit stilted at first, however his performance of
Mi si affaccia un
the moment pugnal? Macbeth decides to murder King Duncan, is filled with anguish and very convincing.
It must be said that Verdi’s treatment of Lady Macbeth and Cassol’s musical choices for the character are a vehicle for the superb Nobulumko Mngxekeza.
The casting of Komani-born Mngxekeza is an interesting one as Lady Macbeth is often cast as a dramatic soprano, whereas Mngxekeza brings a greater variety of colour to the role, much as one would find in a Lirico-spinto, which is far more fitting for this role.
Her Vieni! t’affetta shows off her agility and seemingly effortless line, while her
Una macchia
the mad scene è qui tuttora!, for her character, shows a darker side to both her acting ability and voice.
Mngxekeza’s portrayal of Lady Macbeth is magnificent to watch, as she takes the audience through the character’s eventual demise with nuanced acting and exceptional singing.
Bailey’s Macbeth is an opera with a manageable running time of only 1 hour and 40 minutes, and it must be cautioned that there is some strong language used in the surtitles.
The surtitles do not give direct translations from the Italian but rather convey the sense of what is being sung by a character.
If opera is not normally your choice of entertainment, Bailey’s may surprise and
Macbeth impress you with its innovative operatic storytelling and stellar singers.