Macbeth Muet

La Fille Du Laitier—Pantages Studio

Shakespeare wrote a horrifying tale when he penned Macbeth, and this company has turned that story on its ear, and then some. Few words are spoken, certainly no Shakespearean English, but it doesn’t matter. It also doesn’t matter if you have never read Macbeth. The sequence of events is crystal clear.

The “Muet” performance is an intelligent and carefully crafted blend of, believe it or not, vaudeville, Punch and Judy, the violence of Polanski and good old storytelling. The humour punctuates, rather than overpowers the action, and the company has been respectful of when the horror in the plot must shine through. You have to see the battle scene at the end to believe it.

Jeremie Francoueur and Claire Prevost shine as Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, and all the other characters, for that matter. Their performances are exact, strenuous and totally believable.

With little of the spoken word the sound track for the show takes on added importance, and does not fail to deliver.

Some may see this show as a a parody of Macbeth, but I don’t. In the moments when the audience should be appalled by events, we are. We as an audience, may not have Shakespeare’s words to impact on us, but the intent and ramifications of the plot are in no doubt. The show is actually more choreography than theatre, but that doesn’t matter either.

A beautiful job by the actors and the company. Right now, Macbeth Muet is at the top of my list as a must see.

Michelle Cook