|
Macbeth
Short Shakespeare!
By William Shakespeare
Adapted and directed by David H. Bell
At Chicago Shakespeare Theater
Navy Pier
Chicago, IL
Call 312-595-5600, tickets $10 for students and $15 for adults
Recommended for children ten and up
Public performances Saturdays at 11 AM
Running time is 75 minutes with no intermission
Through April 22, 2006
“Fair is foul, and foul is fair. Hover through the fog and filthy air.”
“It will have blood, they say: blood will have blood.” ---quotes from Macbeth
“The Scottish Play” is a curious choice for teens
Producing Macbeth in the Short Shakespeare format (75 minutes for teens) is a curious choice since the play is shrouded in blood, death, the supernatural and nightmares. I’m sure kids will love this macabre play especially with David H. Bell’s astute direction utilizing futuristic black dressed Mad Max costumes, eerie lighting, circular raked set with gobs of blood and knife fighting. Cut to a lean 75 minutes, Macbeth still seems hard to follow due mainly to some of the cast mumbling their lines and with many cast members looking alike it was confusing to distinguish one character from another.
I wonder if Macbeth is simply too difficult to condense successfully? Several of Director David H. Bell’s devices didn’t help produce clarity. Example, he cleverly has the witch bring back from the dead two soldiers as zombies to become members of the ‘three witches’ forecasting Macbeth’s future. But later when the witch and the two men start another forecast, we aren’t sure who they are since each played other characters.
Maybe, the teens will be so engaged by Bell’s stunning and effective lighting and staging complete with Foley artist sound effects, that they’ll be able make more sense of the show than I was? Maybe.
 |
This artistically amazing adaptation features a youthful cast of macho men who deftly perform their roles with vim. Ben Viccellio as Macbeth delivered a worthy performance while Matthew Brumlow as Malcolm and Nancy Moricette as the Witch/ Lady Macduff together with Cassandra Bissell as Lady Macbeth each added effective moments. However, I was disappointed with the elocution of this cast. They were inarticulate and spoke too soft at times rendering the play hard to follow. Still, this is an achievement for Chicago Shakespeare Theater as hundreds of Chicago area teens will be introduced to the marvels and wonders of Shakespeare through this short Shakespeare program that plays nine performances per week to teen school audiences. Since I’m not the intended audience for this show, I observed and how the kids in attendance reacted to the show. They loved it. That’s all that counts here.
Recommended for junior high and high school students
Somewhat Recommended for adults
Tom Williams
Tom99@chicagocritic.com for comments
Talk Theatre in Chicago Podcast
Date Reviewed February 4, 2006
|
