Shakespeare Demystified: Macbeth afterthoughts
I got a confession to make: I have never read a single work of Shakespeare, except for his poem “ Life’s Brief Candle” during Form 1 literature class (which appeared in the play of Macbeth). I had this notion that Shakespeare literature is too fancy and hard to understand. So when my Critical Appreciation class had a field trip to KLPAC to watch Shakespeare Demystified: Macbeth, I jumped at the chance because of the word “Demystified”. And because I miss KLPAC. So much love for that place…
I did a bit of research on the tragedy play and about Shakespeare. Fun fact: Shakespeare has a colorful range of insults. Now THAT’S my kind of person.
The play was a stripped down version, with 5 actors playing multiple roles and minimum props and costumes with the right sound effects, hence the audience have to use a bit of imagination to visualise the play. Between their dialogues and narrations, they manage to cleverly insert some Malaysian references, paying homage to Shakespeare, who was a genius in reaching out to his audience in his plays. Some scenes were omitted and performed differently to fit in the 100 minutes time frame. Finally, at the end, there is a Q & A session for the audience to ask any questions about the play.
The first thing I have to say is the moment we entered Pentas (stage) 2, it was about 20 minutes before showtime. There was a red satin cloth covering something in the middle of the stage and I wondered idly is a person hiding in there. But since the thing underneath was very still, I banished that thought. The show began with the entrance of the 3 Weird Sisters prophesying about the coming of Macbeth. They circled around the red cloth in a ritualistic manner (which is eerily enchanting to watch). As the chanting and mumbling of the sisters grew frantic, THE THING COVERED BY THE RED CLOTH SLOWLY ROSE TO REVEAL MACBETH, who was played by veteran stage actor, Lim Soon Heng. Veteran, as in, not very young. That man has more stamina and flexibility than most 20-something people, namely me. As a person with some theatre experience, playing more than one character in a play is challenge. What more these actors had no intermission and no rest between their role switches. And the amount of difficult dialogues to remember… like whoa! Just. Whoa. My love for the arts intensified. Much respect for them who wishes to reach out to more Malaysians through their art. I still don’t know some parts of the play but at least I no longer afraid of the name “Shakespeare”. All in all, I paid RM40 for this, sacrificed my me-time on the weekend, got stuck in jam, drove for an hour to get there, and I am not disappointed. #WorthIt
