Macbeth might seem like an unexpected choice for the Druid Theatre Company, renowned for spotlighting Irish writing, to mark their fiftieth anniversary. Staged alongside JM Synge’s Riders to the Sea, the “Scottish Play” is infused with aspects of the West of Ireland by director Garry Hynes, creating a fascinating dialogue between a highly canonical play and a company reflecting on its first half-century of storytelling in theatre. It is a half-century that has featured occasional productions of Shakespeare’s plays, notably Mark O’Rowe’s six-hour adaptation of the Henriad in 2015 (DruidShakespeare Richard II, Henry IV (1&2), Henry V), as well as DruidShakespeare Richard III in 2018, Much Ado About Nothing in 1981 and As You Like It in 1999. For this celebration, Druid have chosen to continue their tradition of defying expectations by staging Macbeth for the first time.
As Galway soil coats the stage of the Gaiety in this production, Druid’s legacy demonstrates that the West of Ireland’s contribution to theatre has grown and spread with the same force that Birnam Wood moves to Dunsinane.
The production was distinctive and incredibly photogenic, an accomplishment in itself for a play with countless adaptations. Each scene captured moments which could become as recognisable as Henri Fuseli’s iconic painting, The Three Witches or The Weird Sisters (1785). Every aspect of Francis O’Connor’s set design, costumes by Clíodhna Hallissey and O’Connor, lighting by Colin Grenfell and sound design by Gregory Clarke was blended to expose the psychological horror and brutality that quickly simmers to boiling point in the play. With audiences seated on three sides, the stage was lined with wooden panels that held various hidden entries, two ladders and an earthen floor, which created the impression of peering down into a space made for blood sports such as bear baiting in Shakespeare’s lifetime. Marty Rea (Macbeth) reinforced this impact by crawling on all fours around the stage, climbing ladders to seize the crown and holding daggers throughout the performance, almost as an extension of his body. Cutting through the gloom, blue LED rods were suspended from above and turned green when Macbeth’s downfall started to gain momentum, while another slanting white strip ran in a sharp line around the wooden panels, mirroring the descent into regicide, cruelty and mental decay which overwhelms the Macbeths. Above all of this, mist and lighting builds and recedes to reveal a crucifix that looms large over the performance and lends its symbolic crown of thorns to Macbeth’s short reign.
Macbeth is a story about fate. As a narrative that is pre-destined and cannot be controlled by the person/character it is assigned to, fate also functions like a play. The weird sisters are a crucial part of embodying this concept. Indeed, the early modern word “weird” was descended from the Old English word “wyrd”, meaning “fate”. Reminiscent of the keening “black hags” in Synge’s work, their presence in the West of Ireland context is entirely compatible with the references to Christianity that are prevalent in this performance. Aside from the crucifix and crown of thorns, the metal drum used by the witches to conjure spells is the same container that Macbeth uses to wash away Duncan’s blood. This mixture of blood and water then becomes the wine used in the banquet scene. The hands of the witches are also painted to resemble eyes or wounds. Watching the weird sisters wondering “when shall we three meet again?” and interacting with Macbeth’s interpretation of their prediction echoes the work of the three founding Druids, Garry Hynes, Marie Mullen (Lady Macbeth) and the late Mick Lally (whose name is now also used for the Druid’s theatre in Galway) working their magic together to bring art to audiences for fifty years, reinventing classics and challenging the canon. This narrative trinity of actor, director and theatre, brought to life with stunning lighting, sound and stage design is therefore a perfect reflection of where Druid stands today, all surrounded and bound together by the audience in this bloody, supernatural and harrowing play.
