A masterclass in evil
Theatre: Shakespeare's Villains, Manoel Theatre
Steven Berkoff is today a great name in the theatre world; a living legend in fact. Only an intellectual, deeply erudite actor of prodigious experience can, single-handedly, without props, rivet a packed house with what could be termed as a Shakespearean lecture for well over two hours!
The villains played and psychoanalysed were all Shakespeare's best known and best detested ones with the exception of Hamlet who I have never thought of as a villain before; as likewise, I had never thought of Oberon as a villain either. Mr Berkoff certainly convinced me and I will not be able to watch Midsummer Night's Dream and Hamlet in quite the same way ever again. His opinion of Hamlet reminded me of a performance by Dame Anna Russell in which she told the story of Wagner's Ring. Her description of Siegfried, the great hero, as a bit of a yob rather tallied with Mr Berkoff's description of Hamlet who is transformed from a dreamy idealistic student into a serial killer. Funnily enough I found that Ms Russell and Mr Berkoff have a lot in common especially where wit and humour are concerned; for indeed there is lots to laugh at in evil too as like the Duchess said in Alice, there is a moral in everything so long as you can find it!
Most electrifyingly portrayed were the double act of Macbeth and his Lady. Steven Berkoff's ability to switch roles, tones and moods were brought out to the full in this portrayal of a woman whose utterly black and "unsexed" ambition fuels and exhorts her rather unremarkable husband to unprecedented heights (or depths) of evil-doing. Mind you, I found Mr Berkoff's opinion of women a little too chauvinist for my liking. I had somehow never thought of Desdemona, Ophelia and Lady M as curvy femme fatales of the platitudinous dumb blonde type; but, there again, we were concentrating on the villains and not the villainesses and it was only Lady M who kicking and screaming and "unsexed" (and consequently a man?) simply had to be let in through the back door!
The extraordinary mixture of fact, history, anecdote and wit in which Mr Berkoff exploited each character was mesmerising. We not only had vignettes about the characters themselves but those great actors who were famous for playing them too. Each villain was chosen for his own particular type of villainy. I suppose I never had psychologically analysed evil before, let alone Shakespearean, larger than life evil; therefore Iago, described as a mediocre villain, made one rethink the underhand strategy in which the man, like a lurking spider, spun a web of deceit around his all too gullible victims. Richard III was the unloved prince, the runt of the litter, ugly and deformed rather like Blackadder. This is why according to Mr Berkoff's Shakespeare, Richard is the precursor to tyrants of the Saddam Hussein and Hitler type! Masterly was the exposition of Shylock and the vivid description of the anomalous position that Jews endured in Renaissance society. The two contrasting facets to Shylock's character - one arrogant and the other cringing - and the perpetual battle to vindicate his predestined life was splendidly explained while the brashness and blindly ambitious arrogance of the ill-fated Coriolanus was new. Not a play that is often performed however in Shakespeare's own time it was far more popular than Hamlet which was considered to be a flop!
If one had to lecture about Shakespeare and his life and works in this entertainingly erudite way I am convinced that there would be many more Shakespearean actors today than there are already. What I really enjoyed and appreciated about Mr Berkoff's performance was that like a great musician, his interpretations never overshadowed the master himself. Mr Berkoff's performances were like Bach fugues played by Glenn Gould, lyrical, crisp and clear, a trifle idiosyncratic but infinitely memorable. It was as if there was a bust of the Bard on a column placed on stage overseeing proceedings. Mr Berkoff never allowed us to forget that what he was doing was merely showing up the evergreen dramatic and psychological genius that was, is and always will be William Shakespeare.
The villains played and psychoanalysed were all Shakespeare's best known and best detested ones with the exception of Hamlet who I have never thought of as a villain before; as likewise, I had never thought of Oberon as a villain either. Mr Berkoff certainly convinced me and I will not be able to watch Midsummer Night's Dream and Hamlet in quite the same way ever again. His opinion of Hamlet reminded me of a performance by Dame Anna Russell in which she told the story of Wagner's Ring. Her description of Siegfried, the great hero, as a bit of a yob rather tallied with Mr Berkoff's description of Hamlet who is transformed from a dreamy idealistic student into a serial killer. Funnily enough I found that Ms Russell and Mr Berkoff have a lot in common especially where wit and humour are concerned; for indeed there is lots to laugh at in evil too as like the Duchess said in Alice, there is a moral in everything so long as you can find it!
Most electrifyingly portrayed were the double act of Macbeth and his Lady. Steven Berkoff's ability to switch roles, tones and moods were brought out to the full in this portrayal of a woman whose utterly black and "unsexed" ambition fuels and exhorts her rather unremarkable husband to unprecedented heights (or depths) of evil-doing. Mind you, I found Mr Berkoff's opinion of women a little too chauvinist for my liking. I had somehow never thought of Desdemona, Ophelia and Lady M as curvy femme fatales of the platitudinous dumb blonde type; but, there again, we were concentrating on the villains and not the villainesses and it was only Lady M who kicking and screaming and "unsexed" (and consequently a man?) simply had to be let in through the back door!
The extraordinary mixture of fact, history, anecdote and wit in which Mr Berkoff exploited each character was mesmerising. We not only had vignettes about the characters themselves but those great actors who were famous for playing them too. Each villain was chosen for his own particular type of villainy. I suppose I never had psychologically analysed evil before, let alone Shakespearean, larger than life evil; therefore Iago, described as a mediocre villain, made one rethink the underhand strategy in which the man, like a lurking spider, spun a web of deceit around his all too gullible victims. Richard III was the unloved prince, the runt of the litter, ugly and deformed rather like Blackadder. This is why according to Mr Berkoff's Shakespeare, Richard is the precursor to tyrants of the Saddam Hussein and Hitler type! Masterly was the exposition of Shylock and the vivid description of the anomalous position that Jews endured in Renaissance society. The two contrasting facets to Shylock's character - one arrogant and the other cringing - and the perpetual battle to vindicate his predestined life was splendidly explained while the brashness and blindly ambitious arrogance of the ill-fated Coriolanus was new. Not a play that is often performed however in Shakespeare's own time it was far more popular than Hamlet which was considered to be a flop!
If one had to lecture about Shakespeare and his life and works in this entertainingly erudite way I am convinced that there would be many more Shakespearean actors today than there are already. What I really enjoyed and appreciated about Mr Berkoff's performance was that like a great musician, his interpretations never overshadowed the master himself. Mr Berkoff's performances were like Bach fugues played by Glenn Gould, lyrical, crisp and clear, a trifle idiosyncratic but infinitely memorable. It was as if there was a bust of the Bard on a column placed on stage overseeing proceedings. Mr Berkoff never allowed us to forget that what he was doing was merely showing up the evergreen dramatic and psychological genius that was, is and always will be William Shakespeare.