Macbeth at Lincoln Center Festival
Opening Night: July 5, 2012
Closing: July 14, 2012
Theater: Jazz at Lincoln Center-Rose Hall
One of Shakespeare’s most deeply psychological plays is given a riveting, utterly original reimagining by the National Theatre of Scotland. Tony Award–winning Scottish star of stage, film, and television Alan Cumming returns to Lincoln Center with a one-man interpretation of Shakespeare’s Scottish play.
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July 9, 2012
The title character’s divided nature, torn between ambition and honor, blood lust and guilt, has been shattered into splinters in the new production of “Macbeth” at the Rose Theater. The charismatic Scottish actor Alan Cumming portrays not only the murderous general, but also every other major role in a reimagining of this classic tragedy as the frenzied outpourings of a diseased, disintegrating mind.
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July 8, 2012
If you’re convinced that Alan Cumming will inevitably do brilliantly whatever he chooses to do on — whether on the legitimate and concert stage or on the big and little screen — then you won’t be surprised how great he is in the virtually one-man Macbeth, now at Rose Theater at Jazz at Lincoln Center as part of Lincoln Center Festival 2012. However, that’s not to say the 105-minute, intermissionless version of William Shakespeare’s tragedy isn’t full of multiple surprises, because it is.
READ THE REVIEWJuly 11, 2012
"Macbeth" should not be a one-man show. The man, and concept, fueling a new adaptation are both such appealing choices, though, it’s enough to convince you that it should. Man: Alan Cumming. Concept: man cycles through multiple personalities in an insane asylum.
READ THE REVIEWJuly 9, 2012
Alan Cumming’s almost one-man "Macbeth" is clearly calculated to be a tour de force. Cumming plays the sole inhabitant of a psychiatric ward who is compelled to re-enact Shakespeare’s darkest tragedy over and over. This talented actor is obviously more than comfortable with the Bard and displays impressive energy and concentration, but he can’t penetrate the undercooked conceit, which adds little and distracts plenty. The result is a hermetically sealed account of this searing work.
READ THE REVIEWJuly 9, 2012
Low expectations tend to come in handy for high-concept shows. Like “Macbeth” — set in a loony bin with Alan Cumming playing all the big parts — at the 2012 Lincoln Center Festival. Even if solo stabs at Shakespeare and resetting popular works to an asylum (think of John Doyle’s “Sweeney Todd”) aren’t unheard of, this take on the Scottish play had the potential (to quote Shakespeare) to be “a rough night.” As it turns out, it is a long one.
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