“The true star here is the stunning visual design by Creative Director Steve Blanchet and Set/Props Designer Ariane Sauvé…

However, the spectacular staging and visual innovation overshadow the human drama at the play’s core. Unlike a film or tv show, where the director can guide audience focus through close-ups and careful framing, this production’s massive scale and split-screen effects sometimes leave viewers struggling to connect with the performers’ emotional journeys. It feels at times like the actors are competing with the massive set’s constant motion and the production’s cinematic flourishes — which makes it challenging to fully engage with the play’s central question: whether Macbeth’s bloody acts are crimes of opportunity, prompted by supernatural manipulation, or inevitabilities that follow directly from the hubris and rot at the core of his character.”

“Though Tom McCamus makes his Mackers as affable as he does with every role, he sadly delivers too many of his lines with a brusque simplicity that reveals too little emotional depth. I seldom got the impression that he was overly conflicted about his murderous deeds, even when the text is explicitly assuring us that he totally is. Lucy Peacock fares somewhat better as Lady M, largely because she’s allowed to be unflinching in her malevolence while still selling the crap out of her remorseful somnambulism in Act V…

I am, however, tempted to say that a lot of the heavy lifting is done by Michael Gianfrancesco’s grimy costume design. The outfits make everyone feel like they belong in this world, signifying just as much with ordinary denim and flannel as it does with the more sensational tattoos and decaled leather jackets.”

“I saw Robert Lepage’s production of Macbeth at Stratford’s Avon Theatre and I came out humming the scenery…

If you saw his Coriolanus at Stratford or Kà, still playing in Las Vegas, you know that Lepage is a visual artist of considerable genius and one of the best theatrical magicians working today. He and Ariane Sauvé, in collaboration with Ex Machina, are credited with the sets, props, and effects. They are all spectacular…

Maria Vacratsis, as the gender-swapped porter, is terrific, perhaps the most successful portrayal in the the play…

As negative as this review may sound, I remain a Lepage fan. Visually, his work is never less than fascinating. Over all, his take on Macbeth is kinda fun. A little dark, but fun.

I hold out hope that as the play continues its run, the actors and the coaches the Festival provides will continue the textual work that was neglected in rehearsal. Hopefully, too, the techies at the sound board will work out the kinks in the sound design.”