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Macbeth | July 13 – August 18

by William Shakespeare
directed by Dawn McAndrews

sponsored by David & Christine Heckman

In a savage world of ghosts, witches, and bloody battlefields, a dark prophecy leads a warrior and his wife past the point of no return. From its mesmerizing first moments to the last fulfillment of the witches’ curse, Shakespeare’s swift and relentless tragedy unearths the terrifying consequences of blind ambition.

Schedule
Thursday, July 13, 7:30 p.m. (Preview)
Friday, July 14, 7:30 p.m. (Opening with Pre-Show Classics in Context Discussion)
Saturday, July 15, 1:00 p.m.
Saturday, July 22, 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, July 30, 7:00 p.m. (Post-Show Discussion)
Friday, August 4, 7:30 p.m.
Thursday, August 10, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, August 12, 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, August 13, 1:00 p.m.
Wednesday, August 16 7:30 p.m.
Friday, August 18, 1:00 p.m.
Production Team


Dawn McAndrews
Director

Brian Dudkiewicz
Set Designer

Katherine Keaton
Scenic Artist

Elizabeth Rocha
Costume Designer

Jason Fok
Lighting Designer

Rew Tippin
Sound Designer

Leighton Samuels
Fight Director
 
Melissa Nathan*
Stage Manager

Hayley Wenk
Asst. Stage Manager


Cast (In order of appearance)


Josh Carpenter*
Macbeth

Mark S. Cartier*
Duncan

Ben Shaw
Malcolm

CJ Stewart
Ross

Wardell Julius Clark
Banquo

Lucy Lavely*
Lady Macbeth

J.P. Guimont*
MacDuff

Mackenzie Shaw
Witch/Lady MacDuff

Mike Dolan
Fleance/MacDuff Boy/Young Siward

 

equity

*Member of Actor’s Equity Association, the union of professional actors and stage managers in the United States.

 

From the Director

There is much critical debate regarding Shakespeare’s intent in crafting Macbeth’s journey from warrior to butcher. Traditional approaches to the doomed Thane and his wife generally focus on notions of “vaulting ambition” or an awakened “heart of darkness;” and this is where my journey with the play began. But as the artistic team discussed the physical and psychic landscape of the production what emerged was an examination of pragmatism and artifice, the battle between morality and desire. The desire to please one’s spouse, to garner praise from one’s peers, to revel in adoration from one’s neighbors and the state.

Things I think I know: Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are truly in love, have perhaps lost a child, are seemingly content with their station in life, and feel valued by each other, their friends, and the state. Macbeth had not thought to be Thane of anything else never mind to become King.

Other things I know: A body in motion stays in motion. Once the Wyrd Sisters introduce the possibility of something more, Macbeth sends it as a gift to his wife and she imagines this possibility into a plan of action. The more one has, the more one wants, the more one acts to achieve it. They are a team until conscience gets the better of them. Conscience begets fear, fear begets treachery, treachery begets violence, and the wheel of fate turns on.

In the end, Macbeth resorts to the world he knows best—tactical violence. Lady Macbeth, having no access to his playbook, is left behind and suffers a psychological remorse so palpable it haunts the night. Ultimately the play is not simply about ambition or evil but the lust to have more than you ever imagined, and the will to achieve it. This very human desire is surely something we have seen in our world, our leaders, and, undoubtedly, in ourselves.

Blood will have blood…