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This is the fourth or fifth time I’ve seen Shakespeare’s MACBETH, though not since the 2009 Babes with Blades’ all-female-cast production. That was memorable, and continues to stand as my favorite rendition of The Scots Play. 

But Three Crows comes damn close!  Edited and most ably directed by Dusty Brown (th/th), MACBETH is Three Crows’ first production since lockdown. I’ve seen nearly a dozen shows since the lights came up in Chicago theatres. Companies are pouring the creative energy from all those dark seasons into their comeback(s), and the result is spectacular; nothing short of a Renaissance.

One issue often being addressed is gender identity. Programs include actors’ pronouns in their bios, and shows are cast without regard to gender.  And BTW, for anybody listening out there, I’m still waiting to see Macbeth produced with the Thane & his Lady cast as a male/male couple. Just sayin’!

This production puts superb actors in every role. The part of Macbeth is obviously key, and Steve Peebles (h/h) rises to the challenge magnificently, from his plaited red hair and beard to his compelling voice. His every line, every expression, eloquently express the tragedy of this brave general degenerating into madness. Though incited by witches and wife, it is Macbeth’s own long-suppressed lust for supremacy that ultimately compels him to slay his liege lord. 

Alex Amery (h/h) is a splendid Macduff, and when he proclaims “Macduff was from his mother’s womb / untimely ripp’d” I broke out in cold shivers. King Duncan is another crucial, if short-lived character, but Stephen Dunn (h/h) makes the role noteworthy, as do Brandon Beach (h/h, Malcolm), Eamon McInerny (h/h, Lennox), Richard Bronson (h/h, Ross), Nathaniel Negron (h/h, Banquo), and Kit Ratliff (th/th) as Fleance.

In addition to the eerie Weird Sisters, Hannah McAuley (sh/h), Judith Laughlin (sh/h), and Lindsey Becker (sh/h) also play Seyton, Porter, and Page, roles that exhibit Shakespeare’s customary snippets of humor. Though it’s hard to summon a snicker in the midst of treason and carnage, they truly are hilarious! But when these same players that lately provoked glee don their ghoulish tree-branch tiaras (or are those bones?), their very presence is fearsome. With their serpentine postures and ghoulish expressions, the witches hardly need invocations to send chills up one’s spine.

Catherine Councell (sh/h) is captivating as Lady Macduff. Her timid manner and extravagantly gravid belly make her violent death particularly moving.

And so I come finally to Lady Macbeth, played by Three Crows’ Artistic Director Selena Lopez (sh/h). Many actors play the Lady as contemptible, but Lopez brings a complexity to the role that gives us deeper understanding of her motives, and of the Macbeth marriage. The Queen is childless, but such is the covenant between them that Macbeth does not cast her aside. Somehow he knows he will never achieve greatness without her initiative, but they both fail to credit the decency in their souls that makes their ambitions ungovernable, so both become demented by self-reproach. And despite his fealty to his barren wife, it is Macbeth’s lack of an heir that motivates his decision to slay Banquo, whom the witches prophesied will father a line of kings. This lineage is horribly displayed to Macbeth in his remorseful specters.

Which touches on the amazing work of the Creative Team. Where to begin in such a brilliantly produced work? Set & Props Designer Kelliann Keeler (sh/h) uses the limited space ingeniously – the addition of a cistern at center stage is a clever solution to several scenes, from the Macbeth’s washing their hands to disposal of Banquo’s corpse and its reappearance as a ghost, along with the other apparitions conjured by King Macbeth’s insanity.

None of these effects could be credible without the skillful work of Lighting Designer Piper Kirchhofer (sh/h). Flashes of lightning are augmented by rolling thunder (thank you, Sound Designer Samuel (h/h) Fitzwater-Buchart!), and the lights are key to setting the mood throughout. Speaking of sound, I can’t say if Director and Stage Manager Amy Rappa (sh/h) specifically instructed the soldiers to stomp heavily during entrances and exits, but it’s effective on several levels, not the least of which is the vibration shaking my chair. Technical Direction comes from Nathaniel Negron (h/h), in addition to his work as Banquo. House Manager Sam Karpowitz kept the venue safe for the sold-out event.

Stage fighting is a challenge in such close quarters, but Violence Designer Michael Bevis (h/h) manages by staging the battles in slowed motion – a realistic approach, as the characters are using the claidheamh-mòr, or Scottish broadsword. This two-handed sword used by 16th-century Highland Scots averaged five feet in length, and its weight made it a singularly unwieldy weapon.

Kudos to Costume Designer Selena Lopez (in addition to her other trivial [sic] duties as Artistic Director and Lady Macbeth!). I do so love men in skirts! (as I once told a kilted Scotsman in Glasgow; he was so tickled he gave me a bite of his fish-n-chips – both the chips and his legs were scrumptious). And does Lopez also manage the Makeup? It’s brilliant: Macbeth’s eyes are piercing – and I already mentioned the Weird Sisters.

It doesn’t matter how many times one sees MACBETH – new productions always evoke new details to exclaim over.

At the Redtwist Theatre in Edgewater. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Published in Theatre in Review
Monday, 24 October 2016 17:13

The Modern Tragedy of Macbeth

"Out damned spot out..." This line tragically uttered by Lady Macbeth is probably one of the more memorable lines in Shakespeare's Macbeth and it also was one of the more memorable moments in Theatre Y's production now playing at the Chopin Theatre.
 
The role of Lady Macbeth, played by Katie Stimpson, really comes to life as she deftly portrays the deceptive, ambitious and manipulative wife who urges her husband Macbeth (played by the equally talented Brendan Mulhern) to commit the treasonous act of murdering the King of Scotland in order to fulfill a prophecy, told to them by a trio of witches, that one day Macbeth would be king.
 
But the weight of her duplicity plagues her with misery as she has bouts of sleepwalking and envisions blood stains on her own hands: "Out damned spot out..." Stimpson plays the role with such an ethereal quality that the vacillation between the blood thirst of Lady Macbeth's ambitions from the play's opening to the tortured consequences of those actions has a lot of resonance.
 
Also, Mulhern's physical approach and embodiment of the role shows the depth of Macbeth's paranoia and guilt over his own actions and weakness. The scene where Macbeth imagines seeing the bloody dagger hanging in the air, though invisible to the audience, is a perfect example of the type of energy he brings the role. Even without the use of a prop, it is quite visual in its depth and impact.
 
This production of Macbeth, part of the year-long Chicago Shakespeare 400 International Arts Festival, was directed by French actor Georges Bigot. He has performed a number of classic roles from Greek tragedies to Shakespearean plays including Twelfth Night and Henry IV as well as directed about a half dozen plays including Chekhov's "The Seagull"  and a Khmer adaptation of Norodom Sihanouk.
 
Bigot provides a very interesting interpretation of the classic starting with a dark and foreboding set. Props are sparse and much of the action and energy are purveyed through the physicality of the actors. An improvised "orchestra pit" sits over to the side providing musical interludes both live and recorded.
 
The costume design by Branimira Ivanova is an interesting mix from the camouflage military uniforms worn by the soldiers in the opening scenes to the modern dress clothes at the party at Macbeth's castle as well as the somewhat Hippies style of the three witches.
 
A fascinating tidbit about this play is that it was rehearsed for nearly a year and the brand new Theatre Y Ensemble was birthed out of the process.
 
"This production of Macbeth is the fruit of a laboratory that began a year ago and which is still ongoing," Bigot says in his director's note. "I wanted to impart the spirit of an ensemble that would 'do theatre in the Public Service,' a spirit I first encountered at the Theatre du Soleil in Paris, but which I recognized instantly in the artists I was able to gather at Theatre Y."
 
The chemistry of the cast was certainly a plus in pulling off some of the most complex scenes including the ending fight scene between Macbeth and Macduff.
 
 
Recommended
 
Macbeth runs through Dec. 4 at the Chopin Theatre. Tickets are available at www.chopintheatre.com.
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