By Geraldine Orense Tan
From the moment I walked in the joint, I almost thought I was in the wrong place: Several black-clad actresses portraying witches were flitting, frolicking, and at times, frightening the audience. In fact, most of the cast were later revealed to be clad in black, in costumes by Jorge Lafradez, save for some effective accents/accessories on a few. This is not your mother’s Shakespeare.
The show had begun even before the show had begun. The cast was drawing the audience in, at times shrieking, or making strange animalistic sounds, while each one recited lines from the play—“Sound!” “Come rain!” “MacBeth!”—in turn, they also comically requested that the audience take the time to visit the rest room before the show proper starts. Though traditionally, there are only supposed to be three Wayward Women/Weird Sisters, MacBeth Tita’s production had many more, and they were truly among the most delightful elements of this iteration of William Shakespeare’s spookiest play.
Tarek El Tayech portrays MacBeth, a general of Scottish King Duncan, who seeks to fulfill the prophecy that he would be King of Scotland, as foretold by these witches.
As they did their thing (and wonderfully so) with choreography by Joanna Foz Castro, each time I heard the name “MacBeth,” I would cringe, for this is believed to be a cursed play. In my earlier incarnation as a theater actress, during my first play, we newbies were informed that MacBeth was our Voldemort, our “he who should not be named.” It was so ingrained in me that saying the “M” word allegedly cursed the performance of any (other) play during which it was uttered by any of those involved in it. I can be slow at times, so it took a while to reassure my brain that I WAS attending a performance of MacBeth. Before then, every time a witch shouted “MacBeth” I would furtively look around, waiting for the gods of theater to strike someone with the closest to lightning that a malevolent spotlight could muster.
Stylized, interactive
The Weird Sisters moved in a highly stylized manner similar to a Japanese theatrical style, such as employed by Inoue Rie in the movie The Ring, when she literally became the girl of my dreams for a whole months’ worth of nights, and I forever “thank” the friend who did me the kindness of dragging me to watch that movie.
A young, nubile witch played by Aylli Cortez, “befriended” me before the show, with purring noises, which I mimicked, and extended her hand. I cheekily placed a tissue in it. She seemed crushed: “I promise, it’s clean!” I said. Though she favored me with direct eye contact throughout the play (she probably noted how much I admired her commitment, stage presence, and her rich alto voice belaying her mere 17 years, our budding fictive friendship was ruined by Kleenex.
The portrayer of Hecate, the lead witch, was the statuesque Jeremy Mendoza. She was also most impressive, planting her crown upon the floor, and using it as a fulcrum as she twisted and turned her body, intensely fixing the audience with her stare. At times I feared she’d snap her neck. The ladies in black were passionately peppering the scenes, spicing them so scrumptiously. They are reminiscent of the three Fates in classical Greek mythology, echoing and interacting with the main characters in a manner that truly was enchanting.
Presenting MacBeth in an interactive manner was truly a brilliant stroke on director Carlos S. Carino’s part, and that caught and nurtured the attention of an audience largely comprised of young people—two squealing youngsters in the front row, in particular.
At one point, apparently, I was expected to save one of the young actors, Tony Cortez, who despairingly reached out to me, as MacBeth (played by handsome, intense Tarek El-Tayech) dragged him off to kill him. The show is replete with exciting action sequences, with fight choreography by Miguel Vasquez.
Actors’ actors
After the show I went up to El Tayech to congratulate him. He has come a long way since, as I reminded him of when we had first met, “I was the original actress whose feet you were supposed to suck in an indie film.” (This was Director Jowee Morel’s “Mona: Singapore Escort.”)
The lovely couple, to my right, at that point, had told me they had several children in the play, including my favorite little witch, the youngest in the cast, Rayne Cortez, and the young man whose life I fictively failed to save. I whispered to them: “I’m sorry I failed to save your son. I did my best.”
“That’s ok. Maybe next time,” the actor’s father whispered back.
The entire cast was amazing, with some memorable moments of exquisite anguished stillness, plus soul-wrenching sound and fury signifying everything, from Jonas Gruet, Miguel Vasquez, and Joel Parcon, the latter in a nightmarish fantasy sequence where the dutiful witches whisked him off in an eerie “floating” exit.
New York-trained Anne Gauthier Das Neves as Lady MacBeth was perhaps the most galvanizing presence of all. Petite and fragile like a porcelain doll, and as impossibly beautiful as a classic Disney Princess, she played the role with incredible attention to detail. Every nuance, every intention of her character was crystal clear, with, or without words. She made this sinister furtive smirk, before exiting, after inciting her beloved, MacBeth to kill her husband, King Duncan (Fermin Villegas).
The chemistry between the gorgeously criminal couple, El-Tayech’s Thane and Gauthier’s Lady MacBeth was palpable. The utter commitment to their characters clearly portrayed their passion that fueled their misguided mission.
Das Neves’ character’s strength and cunning was organic, and completely believable. Her diction and intonation, flawless. Then she breaks down after her conscience gets the better of her—and I’d never seen a more sincere, utterly broken Lady MacBeth. She is an accessory to murder, but your heart bleeds for her, even more than all the blood that she didn’t know was in the old man, her slaughtered husband, her king. In my estimation, she is truly a world-class performer and she deserves to take her place as one of our national, and internationally-renowned treasures.
The beautiful and multi-talented model, host, and actress, Issa Litton also performs as Lady MacBeth in some shows.
I strongly recommend this brilliantly unpredictable, high art retelling of MacBeth with its modern, avant garde sensibilities. Kudos too, to the sound design by Andy Gruet, and set design by Angelica Lorenzo, the tight technicals of Irene Romero, and the obvious team effort contributed by everyone on, and offstage, but still sticking to the true essence of the play in its classic form.