Macbeth
Reviewed by Taylor Kass
Long Beach Shakespeare Company
Through March 19
The shortest of Shakespeare’s tragedies, Macbeth is a feverish tale of impulsivity – of swallowing reason for the sake of blind action, of being tied to the stake but “fighting the course” anyway. Long Beach Shakespeare Company’s production, however, gives its characters too much time to think and turns the visceral horror of Macbeth into an exercise in rhetoric.
As the play’s insatiably ambitious central couple, Walter Gray IV and Libby Letlow as the Macbeths carry the weight of the show’s text with ease and dexterity. Their deep chemistry and mutual trust are palpable and undoubtedly influenced by Gray and Letlow’s real-life marriage engagement. And while some cast members stumble over lines or lose the through-line of their speeches, the language is generally clear throughout.
(In addition to working out the typical opening-weekend kinks, the cast also contended with the absence of one of their lead actors Kevin McGrath (his roles of Duncan, the Porter, Siward, and the Doctor were covered by members of the ensemble at the February 26th performance I attended.)
However, Theresa Hill’s ponderous direction prevents the cast from truly sinking their teeth into the full spectrum of vivid passion present in the text. Relaxed actors simply stand and deliver their lines in scenes devoid of movement or action. And in several instances, actors give some of their most emotionally-charged speeches as they are sitting down or walking backwards offstage, draining momentum and intensity from the scene. Additionally, lengthy blackouts further slow the pacing and segment the plot rather than allowing the inevitable consequences of Macbeth’s actions to snowball wildly out of control.
The scenic and costume design, by Nicole Braucher and Cathy Crane respectively, are similarly bland and unspecific. The black box set is sparsely decorated with a couple of benches and painted to resemble the inside of a stone castle, which unfortunately divorces the setting from the natural world that is so vital to the play itself. The costumes are generically old-timey Shakespearean with the exception of the witches, who are confusingly clad in full-length black tassled robes that are neither scary nor organic. In many instances, the sound design (by Scott W. Kanzelmeyer) was simply too quiet — the clanging bells and owl’s cries and womens’ shrieks should chill us to the bone!
As we begin to return to in-person theater, we crave the electricity that can only be created in a room with other bodies. It’s time to squeeze every ounce of life out of iconic texts like Macbeth and innovate beyond the expected. This is not the time to pull punches.
Long Beach Shakespeare Company, Helen Borgers Theatre, 4250 Atlantic Ave., Long Beach; Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 2pm.; through March 19. (562) 997-1494 or LBShakespeare.org. Running time: 2 hours with one 10 minute intermission.
