Macbeth

Macbeth is one of Shakespeare’s most loved, and over-quoted plays. Indeed, the fame of the play is such that practically every scene has a phrase that has become clichй. This is unfortunate, for it dilutes the core message of the play. It is a play about corruption, violence, horror and the tragedy of a good man who turns evil.

The play asks its audience what can make a good man turn evil? It is a question has been asked over and over again about hundreds of people; from the world’s worst tyrants to the stereotypical quiet neighbor who one day commits horrible acts of violence. The question is central to how we see ourselves. Is mankind inherently evil or good?

Macbeth is a visceral play, and this Rude Mechanicals’ production of this classic among classics, takes a non-traditional look on the play. We have staged Macbeth in a time where society has fallen, the post-apocalypse. What has caused the world to move on is not important. What is important is the straw man of a society that remains. In this society violence is the norm, survival is uncertain, and only the strong (physically, intellectually and socially) can even hope of surviving.

As the play opens, we are introduced in grand fashion to Shakespeare’s quintessential trio, the Three Witches. We have moved away from a traditional interpretation of the witches to them being a reflection of primal forces in this ruined world. The trio represents willpower, sex and the fear inherent in the unknown, all core aspects of our natures. The witches are elements of the world that exist in all of us, dangerous elements. Like fire, they useful but they can also destroy if not handled carefully. The fact that we have given the Three Witches a distinctly spiritual aspect tells us something about how humanity relates to politics, religion and faith. Like the core elements of the psyche, hope and morality (central to any religion or political ideology) can corrupt and destroy if followed mindlessly. Thus the Witches gain power through their ever expanding coterie of thralls, people and spirits captured by the power of the witches and forced to join their dance (literally).

The world of Macbeth is populated by numerous lords (or in our case warlords). These men and women are not nice people. They have carved their own empire by their force of will and by violence and ruthlessness. These are not the genteel nobles of traditional productions. These are people of passion with very human flaws. Ross, MacDuff, Malcom, Lennox, and the rest are the seeds of a new civilization.

Among these lords we have the famous antiheroes of the play, Macbeth and his wife Lady Macbeth. The text offers a challenge to