Macbeth: An Undoing is Malthouse’s fresh revisionist take on Shakespeare’s classic text, reframing the story from the perspective of the original gaslighting, gatekeeping girlboss Lady Macbeth herself. The show takes bold risks that many Shakespeare purists would deem sacrilegious, as Zinnie Harris’ script and Matthew Lutton’s direction combine to create a daring retelling of a show that could easily be written off as old hat to those traumatised by VCE essays. They reassign some of the show’s most well-known lines and even remove others altogether. It cannibalises Shakespeare’s greater portfolio, stealing the opening of a monologue from A Midsummer Night’s Dream and throwing in death scene imagery from Romeo and Juliet. Its greatest endeavour, however, is the way it breaks down the framework of the show itself – actors run off stage to give contemporary soliloquies to the audience, characters become self-aware as parts of the plot are remoulded, costumes are changed on stage to cleverly convey the spiralling insanity that lives at the story’s beating heart. It is this meta-narrative that breathes new life into the play, keeping the audience on their toes and surprising them while still maintaining the essence that made Shakespeare’s original so great.

The title therefore cleverly reflects the plays main intentions. It breaks the fourth wall and so quite literally unravels the performance at the seams, “undoing” the play as we know it. But it also conveys its loftier goal: undoing the centuries of vilification endured by Lady Macbeth at the hands of directors, audiences, and high school English teachers alike. By shifting the story’s perspective, Harris’ re-imagining questions the misogyny that has always hung heavy over Lady Macbeth’s arc. Known often as the “manipulative” wife, Lady Macbeth emerges in Macbeth: An Undoing as a fully developed protagonist with her own inner life. Her relationships are strengthened, her motivations are clarified, and her character is humanised despite her still obvious flaws. Bojana Novakovic’s staggering performance as Lady Macbeth only deepens her dimensions, assisted of course by an incredible supporting cast.

Every part of the production design is well-considered. The costumes are immersive, the sound and lighting designs are captivating, but most impressive is the large set designed by Dann Barber that transports the audience through the winding passages and endless rooms of a Scottish highland castle without ever having to leave their seats. Revolving stages have become something of a theatre clichè in recent times, but Lutton’s direction ensures it is not merely a cheap trick but a properly utilised tool, spiralling as the characters too spiral down into the depths of nausea and insanity.

At times the show falls victim to its own ambitions as its attempts to go big fall flat – the small crumbs of Australian vernacular are too sparse to not be jarring when they do appear, and some unintentionally comedic moments caused by awkwardly delivered lines or badly thrown punches create some tonally uneven scenes. But with a play this huge you’d be hard-pressed to remember these fleeting moments when leaving the theatre, instead recalling the countless impressive images that Lutton has worked into the show.

This is not simply a feminist rewriting of Macbeth. Instead Harris has chosen to tease out themes that were always present, but – much like Lady Macbeth herself – have always been overlooked. Lady Macbeth has always been more than a villain. She’s more than just a wife, a sister, or a hopeful mother. She has simply always been a person with an untold story, and Macbeth: An Undoing tells that story with both empathy and engagement in mind. Because Macbeth was never just about the Lord. Finally, Lady Macbeth has taken her rightful place as a titular character too.