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| - Let me begin by stating very clearly that I love Shakespeare and that until tonight I have thoroughly enjoyed the productions of the Southwest Shakespeare Company.
Unfortunately, MacBeth is, next to Hamlet, my favorite tragedy, and to see it so performed was upsetting. Maybe since it was the last production, some of the actors hammed it up a bit. Most audiences don't giggle and twitter through scenes that are supposed to awe and terrify. The lead actor, Cale Epps, has been in many local productions, but seemed miscast. Jack Black does Shakespeare sums it up best to me. Lady MacBeth was not much better, alternately wickedly good and plucked from a high school cast. By far the best actor was Richard Baird, who played Banquo. Both dead and alive on stage, he was captivating, powerful, and fully believable in his role. Of positive note as well were the delightfully witty Jim Coates (as the porter and doctor), Hope Brown as MacDuff, and the beautiful Andi Watson as Lady MacDuff and as one of the witches.
Speaking of the witches- their costumes were stunning. In the beginning of the play, they were dressed in tree-like outfits, with tall crowns of thin branches, branches extending the look of their fingers, and bark-like capes. In the latter half, they were in skin tight leotards imprinted with raised vines that snaked their bodies, They also all had some device that amplified, deepened, and echoed their voices- sometimes this was creepy, at other times it was cheesy, and at worst, they accidentally amplified and distorted the voices of those too near them- like MacBeth's.
Really, this dichotomy could be witnessed in virtually all areas. Sometimes the music was great, and added to the gravity of a scene, but then it was so often so abruptly cut, that you wondered who was at the sound board- an intern? The set and many costumes were wonderful, but then Duncan's beard was so terrible it looked like it had been gotten on sale at the Halloween Headquarters, and the torches were so clearly electric. Hell, I can get a flame-less "candle" that *flickers* like a real one for my house for a few dollars- a small touch like that would have made a big difference. One of MacBeth's foreshadowing visions was the spitting image of Darth Vader, down to the big sword, shiny plastic helmet, and heavy breathing. I nearly lost my dinner at that point. They may as well have been done with it and given him a light sabre.
Sigh. I will continue to see Southwest Shakespeare productions because I have faith they will be better than this one. They just have to.
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