He would do anything for power. Does Macbeth remind you of anyone?

“There’s something about being in the elements that’s so important for this.”

Hearing the Last Post play from the nearby Shrine of Remembrance adds further to the play’s theme of battles lost and won.

Dean, who grew up in the Yarra Valley, first played this role in 2019 and has spent the past eight years working intermittently on the Sydney Theatre Company’s The Secret River, being part of the tour to London’s National Theatre two years ago.

He’s grateful to simply be working again but he’s also motivated to delve into Macbeth’s rich complexities.

“I find it difficult to get my head around how such a valiant soldier at the beginning of the play has been nothing other than side-swiped by someone presenting this dream of what will happen in his life,” he says.

“Then, before he knows it he’s made Thane of Cawdor and he becomes a tyrannical beast. He really starts with an open heart. He loves his wife and it’s pure love. It’s such a difficult piece to find the heart of it. Sometimes people can get caught up in playing him in one note as just the aggressor but he’s a human being who’s struggling incredibly with what can only be called a breakdown of his soul.”

Since ASC director Glenn Elston mentioned to Dean last October that he was hoping to remount Macbeth again this summer, Dean set about revisiting the text and exploring Macbeth’s psyche. At his core, Dean believes Macbeth is unknowingly driven by a sense of failure at not being able to give his wife the baby she desperately wants, haplessly tumbling into horror and doesn’t look back.

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As challenging and as frustrating as the role can be, it’s a welcome challenge to explore this giant of Shakespeare.

“I approach it from the inside out and try to find the intent – what he is wanting,” he says.

“Macbeth is confounding because he can change within just a couple of stanzas and he’s all over the shop. The way I have to do this is to let the world of Macbeth wash over me and then I like to step up. I’m not a blueprint actor.”

Dean is searching for what he describes as the “heartbeat” of Macbeth and he’s keen to share his insights not only through his performance but also with the many school students expected to be in the audience.

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“It’s so important we look after that growth in terms of being able to nurture them on their creative narrative,” he says.

“I grew up in the early ’90s and clearly remember seeing Armfield’s Hamlet. If I can spark a curiosity or anything with these kids, that can only be good for us all.”

Macbeth is at the Southern Cross Lawn, Royal Botanic Gardens, January 30-March 6. Bookings: shakespeareaustralia.com.au or 8676 7511.

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