Royal Shakespeare Company Summer 2018 Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, and The Duchess of Malfi

After the Globe’s new artistic director Michelle Terry threw down the gauntlet to professional theatres with her policy of 50% female casting, the RSC scrambled to pick it up. All of the plays in the RSC summer season had women directors, and a number of roles in both Romeo and Juliet and Macbeth were recast as female characters. The Duchess of Malfi examined the culture of toxic masculinity partially through limiting the female presence to the three characters included in the cast list (four, with the Duchess’ hapless, unnamed daughter) and portraying all of them as victims of male power. All three productions aimed for relevance to today’s audiences by the use of modern settings and a preponderance of young performers. The ensemble of Romeo and Juliet even included a number of non-professional teenagers from all over Britain, in a commendable outreach for diversity. Unfortunately, while the RSC generally scored high on the acting, they lost points with an assortment of alienating designs. The most egregious instance was Naomi Dawson’s stylized gymnasium for The Duchess of Malfi, in which an enormous bovine carcass dominated the stage; stabbed by Ferdinand in vicious machismo, it bled out during the second half of the production. As the actors sloshed around in the spreading pool of stage blood, it became increasingly difficult to take the action seriously.

Macbeth

With Macbeth, director Polly Findlay created a waiting room in hell; designer Fly Davis’ doctor’s office chairs, potted palms and water cooler, offered an antiseptic, Kafkaesque…