'Screen: Macbeth' is not just sound and fury

"So foul and fair a day I have not seen." Thus begins Shakespeare's Macbeth, the timeless tragedy that has been staged in various forms all over the world. The Bard's lyricism, beautiful though difficult to comprehend, is not lost in the World Theatre Project's Screen: Macbeth, an international commemoration of William Shakespeare (1564-1616), an English poet and playwright. The audience will recognize much of the original script but will certainly miss memorable lines like the weird sisters' "Double, double, toil and trouble," which is replaced by a mishmash of local dialects. Though definitely not Shakespeare, they are effective and fitting for the trio's eerie scenes. Directed and conceptualized by Dr. Anton Juan Jr. with the dramaturgy of Dr. Judy Celine Ick, the play recreates the tragedy written in the 17th century for a 21st century Filipino audience. Juan says the supernatural and liminal parts are on the screen speaking with the actors, whom he describes as a "fine assembly of sterling actors." In the intimate theater of the UP College of Mass Communication Media Center, four runway-like platforms meet in the middle, dividing the audience within the set. The entire performance is contained by a 360-degree screen, constructed by draping immaculate white fabric from ceiling to floor, which serves as the backdrop for the bloody tale of murderous greed. Indeed it is a hyper visual staging, with actors entering from all directions, and props falling from above. The audience is engaged from start to finish and the gripping story is enhanced by the screen, which serves to both show and conceal. "The screens in the movie theaters, television, computers, mobile phones, and other digital gadgets that we use today display images and information that mirror only one or two dimensions of ourselves," Juan says. “However, there are the other dimensions not captured by these screens. These are our deepest desires and fantasies, which we do not show but conceal," he adds. Though it is an edited version of Macbeth, the narrative remains. The medieval, renaissance concept and the Jacobian era of revenge and blood, Juan explains, are the main periods that contextualize the play.

Going beyond the play itself, Screen: Macbeth allows the audience to see the story as something more familiar than strange. Certainly, Shakespeare's lines are by no means easy to decipher, but Juan's treatment aids the audience in understanding the events and more importantly, the story's meaning. The images, lights, sounds and the actors weave the tale so tautly that it is not just what is happening that is conveyed but the emotion itself. It is a Scottish play, with kings and queens and castles, but the Filipino audience knows it is also about them. In that sense, the play is a success, as Juan says he and Ick really planned to "take a masterpiece and make it speak about our realities as well." "When I speak of the head for instance, it's not just the head controlling the hand but it's also the head of state, it's also the thinking part of our people," says Juan. At its core, the play strikes at greed and corruption, he adds. "The cause for other evils and effects of such evil on the people - that for me is quite important," says Juan, who is happy and heartened by the play's success so far. Screen: Macbeth has been packing the theater since it opened on February 28. Much of the audience is composed of students who discuss their reaction papers in hushed tones during the play. Some have to return the next day as the seats are so close to each other that there is simply no room for standing, which some seem more than willing to do, if only to see the play. As expected, the play's popularity pleases Juan, as do positive reviews. "We've got reviews that say this is an exciting and fresh Macbeth, gripping. One said that it is so new that it has obliterated in her mind the Macbeth of Kurosawa," he shares. On the other hand, Juan is dismayed by the lack of support for the play, which runs only until March 13, as there is "no space in the university." "I think my plaint is that the kind of theater now that we see has become very trendy so if it falls out of that kind of groove, sponsorships come few and far between from institutions, but you can see that people flock to it," he says. And flock they do. Apart from students, theater lovers line up to see the play, as they did in Juan's last play Information for Foreigners. Apart from Macbeth's popularity, audiences are drawn to the excellent cast, some of which were Juan's students, others his colleagues. Ick herself plays Lady Macbeth opposite Teroy Guzman as Macbeth. The actors are powerful, and do justice to Shakespeare. Much of the action happens away from the center of the stage, a spot fittingly reserved for the most poignant moments. While the audience's gaze darts from left and right to up and down, all eyes focus on this space which Lady Macbeth fills as she attempts to rid herself of guilt. "Out, damn spot," she cries, drenched in water which cannot cleanse her sins. Later, too, it is here where Macbeth delivers the final soliloquy that well describes life, but thankfully does not apply to Screen: Macbeth. Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow Creeps in this petty pace from day to day To the last syllable of recorded time; And all our yesterdays have lighted fools The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle.' Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player, That struts and frets his hour upon the stage And then is heard no more. It is a tale Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing. - Act V. Scene V. of Macbeth Beyond the two hours, Juan wishes the audience to leave the play remembering the faces of corruption. "To remind them of our history, because we forget," he says. After the play, he warns the audience. "The butcher is not dead, and there are more fiend queens." – VVP/YA, GMA News Photos courtesy of the production team The cast is composed of Teroy Guzman, Judy Ick, Romnick Sarmenta, Earl Ignacio, Jamie Wilson, Ron Capinding, Chiqui Burgos, Frances Makil-Ignacio, William Elvin, Ian Lomongo, Gigi Escalante, Mary Jane Alejo, Tara Cabaero, Zaf Masahud, Florence Alverne, Lhenvil Paneda with the special participation of Ricky Abad and Eugene Domingo. The artistic team consists of Pat Valera (Assistant Director for Stage), Katte Sabate (Assistant Director for Film), Winter David (Video Designer), Ohm David (Set Designer), Jethro Joaquin (Sound Designer), Meliton Roxas (Lights Designer), Lhenvil Paneda (Costume Designer), and Paul Gaerlan (Properties Designer). The production team includes Olive Nieto and Sabate (Production Managers), Karen Gaerlan (Stage Manager), Garett Picardal and Bonsai Cielo (Assistant Stage Managers), Lehner Mendoza (Video Assistant/Projectionist), Krystel Dionisio (Sound Boardperson), Mark Ortilla (Technical Apprentice), Zaf Masahud (Staff), Giovanni Basco and Florianne Jimenez (Marketing and Publicity Content). Screen: Macbeth is playing at the Media Center of the College of Mass Communication, UP Diliman. Shows from February 28 to March 4 are at 7:00 p.m.; shows on March 5 to 6 are at 3:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. There will also be playdates from March 11-13. Please purchase your tickets at the DECL office on Monday. You may contact CAT at 09065777921 Tickets cost P250 each. For show or ticket inquiries, please contact Katte Sabate at (0927) 749-1842, Olive Nieto at (0915) 452-6372, or the DECL office at 926-3496.