By Delia Paunescu

Shakespeare’s “Macbeth” is a play about actions, consequences and regret–ideas as old, if not more so, as the Bard himself. So it comes as a bit of a surprise when the latest staging of this popular tragedy brings video imaging projections and rapping to the story of the remorseful king of Scotland and his power-hungry wife.

At the Brooklyn Academy of Music, “Macbeth” is directed by Rupert Goold and set against a backdrop of dingy ceramic walls in a hospital circa WWII (design by Anthony Ward.) It opens in complete darkness as the sounds of machine gun fire and the general commotion of war fill the famous venue. The three witches here are nurses and for their cauldron use the corpses of deceased soldiers. Macbeth enters in full army khakis, wielding a rifle and helmet while others arrive in full-length leather trench coats and military coats.

But this is not the first fascist-themed Shakespeare production that’s come along in recent years, using the scare of dictatorship to remind us of the dangers of tyrant rulers. In fact, the setting here is quite similar to Richard Loncraine’s “Richard III”-as is the heightened level of violence. Swirling blood is projected across the screen with each killing, the blood on the hands of the Macbeth’s shines brightly and oozes off after killing King Duncan. When the witches serve as maids in the royal household, they wield gleaming butcher’s knives behind their backs, as though ready to attack at any moment.

Yet for all the violence it builds up, there’s no hand-cutting scene in Goold’s production. Lady Macbeth comes storming out, yelling yet again about the proverbial “damned spot” but when the time comes for her self-amputation, all we get is a sink that fills with blood.

The play is acted dutifully but in the end falls short of a dazzling performance. For those who’ve never seen “Macbeth,” Patrick Stewart does a good job. His skills as an actor can’t be denied. As the enraged wife, Kate Fleetwood certainly uses her lungpower and spends most of her stage time yelling. If we didn’t know Lady Macbeth was angry, Fleetwood will assure us of it. She’s determined to keep her ill-gained power and successfully foils her contrite partner in crime.

With the wierd sisters rapping their prophecies as graphics of static and a heartbeat are splashed across the dingy hospital aesthetic, one begins to think that all the modernization may have gone a bit far. That’s not to say that the video and projection design by Lorna Heavey don’t enhance the play and the images of rustling forests more than adequately set the scene as Macduff’s army closes in on Scotland.

But a winner this production is not and, along with the uncomfortable chairs of BAM, this rudimentary production leaves audiences fidgety and aching for a break.

“Macbeth” will be playing at the Brooklyn Academy of Music through March 22. Tickets are sold out.

In “Macbeth,” currently playing at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Patrick Stewart plays the title role with Kate Fleetwood as his megalomaniac wife. The play is directed by Rupert Goold. (nytimes.com)