Rupert Goold’s Macbeth is nothing short of terrifying.

The production, set in Stalinist Russia, far surpasses most forced and awkward modern adaptations of Shakespearean originals. The starkness of the industrial cellar that serves as the setting for the whole of the play, combined with an atmosphere of danger and mistrust, adds to the grim terror that permeates the stage from the opening line to the blood bath of the final scene.

Yet the production’s core strength and capacity for horror lies in Patrick Stewart and Kate Fleetwood’s captivating portrayals of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. The duo simultaneously captures desperate lust and the single-minded egotism that drives the events of the play.

Of course, the stereotype of the ideal 1950’s couple does not get overlooked. Lady Macbeth is always the queen of the domestic sphere—Fleetwood steps into the role of wife and hostess with a fixed smile, a shapely housedress and impeccably applied red lipstick. It is immediately following one of her infamous homicidal rands that she removes a multi-layered chocolate cake from the refrigerator, grabs her husband’s hand, inhales sharply, and returns beautifully composed to their dinner party.

Other performances lend strength to the production as well, particularly Michael Feast as Seyton (the porter) and Martin Turner as Banquo. Feast enters the stage in a drunken, deranged stupor—his overt creepiness makes his character memorable and more prominent than the play itself suggests. Banquo, on the other hand, functions as a genuine friend and an upstanding father figure, a striking foil to Macbeth.

Goold’s artistic choices create an alternately stark and aesthetically stimulating environment on stage. For the majority of the performance, a basin sink, old-fashioned refrigerator, and storage closet serve as the only adornments of the dingy basement room, which also functions as a hospital, a bedroom, a kitchen, and a battlefield.
The blank walls serve as a screen for Lorna Heavey’s surreal video productions that accompany Macbeth’s hallucinations, his interactions with the witches, and the approach of Macduff’s army. And while the sporadic video effects don’t seem to fit within the dominantly stark, Stalinist setting, they are appropriately situated in otherworldy and psychological moments.

The play’s exploration of psychology through both performance and visual effects is largely responsible for its haunting quality. Fleetwood’s obvious fixation with her hands can come across as over-determined, but her portrayal of insanity in Lady Macbeth’s sleep-walking scene is unforgettable—as is Stewart’s cutting indifference at the news of her death. His passivity throughout the final scenes makes him seem all the more sinister, as he shrugs off the guilt that dies with his “better half.”

The production has proved its mettle over the past few months, moving quickly from the Brooklyn Academy of Music to Broadway. It continues to stun audiences at the Lyceum Theater, not only through chilling performances, but also by translating the original into a convincing, modern day experience that hits frighteningly close to home.