The plot of Shakespeare’s Macbeth (1606), which Verdi set to music, is cruel enough – in this performance it is clearly surpassed.
Stage design:
The stage design appears colorless throughout: black walls, a white pile of stones that, upon closer inspection, are decorated with skulls, and wall-like plastic sheets that repeatedly separate the room. On the right there is a tent-like structure in Bundeswehr green; One assumes there are stairs underneath, as the actors repeatedly crawl out of them and disappear into them. The children, soloist(s) of the Tölzer Boys’ Choir, manage this much more easily than the adults. There are also girls among the children – they all wear light blonde wigs, the girls with chic outer waves. Once the action takes place in the palace, a huge crystal chandelier appears and the plastic walls shrink the stage.
Although the action takes place in the Scottish Middle Ages, the men mostly wear suits, and in later acts they wear uniform-like, double-breasted coats with gold buttons. There are no weapons – but large and small swords. Lady Macbeth initially appears with long hair and cuts his hair off with a short sword; Afterwards she stands there with her chin-length hair, but only after she disappears into the tent and returns with a new wig.
Only during the coronation scene do the actors wear historical robes, which they then take off to stand in nude-colored lingerie; the women with tights, the men with bare legs. I don’t understand what that means.
After the break it becomes increasingly obscure, as there is extensive urination on stage. In another scene, four naked men are pulled up by their feet and hang upside down in the middle of the room for several minutes. It was impossible to tell whether these were people or dolls. At some point four or five women, probably witches or elves with bare chests, pink chin-length wigs and red pants, came and blew into something so that plastic sheets came out, which they could then put on as cloaks and no longer look naked.
Action:
The plot is complex and sometimes seems confusing due to the staging, but at its core it is about power and intrigue. Macbeth wants to become king after a prophecy promised him this. Still prevails King Duncanwhich Macbeth first has to get rid of – all that can be seen on the stage is his severed head, which Macbeth proudly presents. Afterwards he can be crowned, but the spiral of violence continues: there are dozens more deaths, too Lady Macbethhis wife dies. In the end Macbeth is killed by Macduff, who clearly opposed him from the beginning, was killed with the sword.
What I didn’t understand and missed in this production is the scene with the forest. According to the prophecy, Macbeth’s time as king will be over when the forest comes towards him. In this opera, Macbeth tears down the plastic walls – is that supposed to indicate the forest?
All that’s left is Malcohol the son of ex-King Duncan as the rightful heir to the throne. It was represented by the white-blond children, one of whom wore a crown.
All in all: I didn’t even like the music. When the bow was made, the spectators quickly left. When the singers appeared one at a time in front of the curtain, the stage was almost empty.
