Inviting us into the theater, a bizarre old cleaning lady describes the lone survivor of a theater company, a woman from Scotland who will entertain us with the tale of Macbeth. Angela Malfitano then transforms herself into Lady Macbeth and begins to read the letter containing the witches' predictions.
Ms. Malfitano avoids both single-dimensional heavy drama and farcical spoof in favor of an all-too-rare humane reading of her beloved characters. Moving back and forth in the time line of the Shakespearean Macbeth, she illuminates in turn all the principal moments, in addition to inventing zany dialogues among the assassins and a letter from Macbeth recounting the final events up to his death. She has a special affection for the witches with their weird voices and telling facial expressions, of which Ms. Malfitano has a vast repertory of the kind frequently seen in Italian children's theater. Ms. Malfitano is a large but well-proportioned woman; as the cleaning lady deft costuming hides her size, while for Lady Macbeth she flaunts it to emphasize the feminine side of Lady Macbeth, perhaps too often played as a man in drag. The banquet scene is played as a disco night replete with light show, the actress delivering Lady's lines while gyrating atop a platform. The fight scenes are compressed into two musical interludes, a sword in each hand thrust here and there to economically suggest the fray. In keeping with the nocturnal atmosphere, mostly dimly lighting is used, with a spot or two to capture the actress' face.
For English speakers, hearing the Bard's famous lines in another language usually confirms the power of the original, as is the case here. Attracting a lively young crowd, the Teatro Verdi is a traditional space in an off-off location; the season includes mostly experimental-type original pieces and adaptations.
