Review: At the Guthrie, 'Macbeth' becomes a timely study in power and consequences

How sweet the torment of royals behaving badly, from the self-doubting Macbeth gutted by his own sudden disloyalty to a sleepwalking Lady Macbeth shouting the blood off her hands, stained by her own ambition.

Consequences are among the most intoxicating offerings from this production of “Macbeth,” at the Guthrie Theater through March 22, and there are many in this dark and robust production.

Joe Dowling, former longtime artistic director at the Guthrie, directs Shakespeare’s shortest tragedy once again; he directed it the last time it was at the Guthrie in 2009-2010.

The play follows the machinations of the titular Macbeth, a Scottish general, and Lady Macbeth, his co-conspirator and wife, as they forcefully fulfill a prophecy — the Three Witches declare that Macbeth will be King of Scotland — and face the consequences. 

Shakespeare wrote “Macbeth” in the early 17th century, during the reign of James VI and I, King of Scotland, a period marked by the king’s penchant for witchhunts.  Four hundred years later, the “Scottish Play” still offers a moment for reflection and reckoning in our own time of unchecked violence and capitalism, of greed, ambition and paranoia.

Bringing it into modern day is Dowling's rigorous, fast-paced direction, opting out of an intermission altogether, and thus keeping it under the length of most feature films.  As Meghan Kreidler, who plays Lady Macbeth, put it: “Macbeth” is the most “rock and roll” of Shakespeare's plays. That applies here, from the vigorous almost percussive performances to the design of the sets, costumes and sound. 

Daniel José Molina as Macbeth is a magnetic driving force, teetering between the swagger of freshly acquired power and the depths of self-inflicted despair. Kreidler plays Lady Macbeth as deliciously emasculating, transforming from a slinky and shrewd operator to a lost soul gone mad.

The minimalist set design by Riccardo Hernández on the Guthrie’s thrust stage amplifies the performances by creating a stifling vacuum where it seems any moment could explode into braggadocio, grief or violence. Oily black monoliths shrouded in fog vignette the stage, and soaring red banners, reminiscent of Nuremberg rallies, are set against a monochrome photo of a cloudy gray sky. It does feel like a place where, as Lady Macbeth hisses, “what’s done cannot be undone.”

The costuming by Judith Dolan is a curious hodgepodge, and for the most part, it works. Soldiers dress in sleek black leather — boots, gloves, shoulder-padded vests — and black berets, seemingly drawing influence from SS officers, the Black Panthers and perhaps a little Blade Runner. The gentlewomen are buttoned up in 40s silhouettes (another World War II reference?); The Three Witches sway in hippie rags; and the hitmen sport grungy streetwear. 

The Macbeths wear matching flowing robes or gild themselves in shimmering fabrics and crowns. At one point, shortly after becoming king, Macbeth dons a blue suit and turtleneck, channeling a mafioso in the mold of Christopher Moltisanti on “The Sopranos.” Their wardrobe reinforces the bond between spouses, one of the few happy married couples in Shakespeare, and Molina and Kreidler bring it to life with a lived-in sensuality. 

While the Macbeths share moments of revelry, smug with power, it is fleeting and the unraveling is swift. This is not a power couple floating unscathed from the consequences of their actions like so many political leaders today. The Macbeths are haunted by the ghosts of their choices and dogged by torment, gnashing their teeth, wringing their hands, and eventually losing everything. How satisfying to see accountability meet power, remorse meet violence. Foul is fair, indeed.

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