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An unforgettable tragedy of passion, the supernatural and ambition, set upon the
foggy moors of Scotland, MACBETH is one of Shakespeare's best-loved plays.
Macbeth, Thane (Lord) of Cawdor, plays host to the King on a visit of state,
and at the urging of Lady Macbeth, murders the monarch and usurps his crown.
Witches, prophecy, and ill-omen subsequently haunt the murderous couple as they
experience the fortunes and dangers which forever accompany power. Set in
period costume with an ensemble cast, the Rude Mechanicals' production will
bring the macabre reality of the tragedy to the fore.
From the Directors
In 1605 a group angry Catholics in England plotted to kill King James I. Believing him to be tyrannical for upholding the recently deceased Queen Elizabeth I's anti-Catholic legislation, they planned to blow up Parliament on the day it opened. The plot failed and the schemers were executed. However, what resulted from this attempted assassination of the king was extreme unrest among the citizens of England. Treason became something tangible. Could anyone be trusted? Could the king be trusted? Partially in response to this political intrigue, around 1606 Shakespeare wrote one of his bloodiest tragedies, Macbeth, to be performed at the court of King James I. Almost exactly five hundred years later to the date the infamous Gun Powder Plot was unveiled, we perform this play.
It was over a year ago that we lay in bed and talked about directing a play together. At first it was a just a pipe dream. A passion project. Macbeth? How could we pull it off? Why not a comedy? Why not something easier, more fun? But then we thought about it, about the characters, about the sex, the magic, the revenge, the loss of morality and the madness that follows-and as the night got later, we got bolder. We had to do it. Call us crazy, but this is what fun is for us. Tragedy! Blood! Good versus evil! With a legendary play, a super-talented cast and a dynamic space in which to perform, it's a theatre-lover's dream. Two months of rehearsals later, as we sit in these red velvet chairs, we're glad you are here to share our dream with us.
Unlike many of Shakespeare's tragedies, strong female characters steal the show. Set in a time where women had little or no power in the world, Shakespeare turns traditional power structures on their heads. While Macbeth is no doubt the protagonist, it is his scheming and sexually manipulative wife who sends him over the edge, directly aligning his manhood with the ability to kill without fear. Lady Macbeth is anything but the traditional wife. From the moment her husband returns from battle, (with the news from the Weird Sisters that he will one day be king) she begins seducing him into the idea that he must not wait to gain the crown; he must kill Duncan the very next night. We were very interested in conveying the connection with seduction, manhood, and murder that is constantly repeated in Macbeth. She tells him, that if he can kill Duncan, he will not only be her man, he will be "So much more the man." So hungry is Lady Macbeth to be Queen, to snatch destiny by the roots, that she disregards her own conscience and urges her husband to do the same. Macbeth, like other protagonists in Shakespeare's tragedies (Hamlet, King Lear, Othello) is extremely conflicted, and is in a constant mental battle between what he knows is right, (his conscience) and what he really wants (his "black desires").
What is the conscience? Is it not the barrier that separates good from evil, madness from sanity? What happens when we give in to our black desires? What we want to illustrate is Shakespeare's creation of a world where conscience is but a memory, a place where death and murder become commonplace, and most importantly where the real world and the underworld become one. The drunken Porter, opens the door to hell, while in the next room the king (the representation of God on earth) is being savagely slaughtered by the very man whom he loved and honored most. With Macbeth under his wife's spell, the stage is set for more cruel and "unnatural acts", and the two "partner[s] in greatness" will not stop until they have it all. But what happens to a land which is ruled by a king who has abused fate for his own personal gain? This is where the witches come in. Are they real? Do they control Macbeth and the world of men? Or are they simply visionaries, holding fate in their hands? Perhaps Macbeth was never supposed to know his future…What Shakespeare seems to be telling us is that fate is not a force with which to meddle.
…For mine own good
All causes shall give way: I am in blood
Stepp'd in so far that, should I wade no more
Returning were as tedious as go o'er…
(III.v)
MACBETH will be performed at the beautiful and historic
Lydia Mendelssohn Theater.
A map and directions to the theater are available here.
Show dates and times are as follows:
- Friday, December 2 - 8PM, Doors at 7:30
- Saturday, December 3 - 8PM, Doors at 7:30
- Sunday, December 4 - 2PM, Doors at 1:30
Read the complete play on-line:
http://www-tech.mit.edu/Shakespeare/macbeth/index.html
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