by Geoff Hoff

It is always with a strange combination of excitement and trepidation that I see a new production of a Shakespeare play, especially one of the tragedies.  Done well, any Shakespeare play can be electrifying, exhilarating, enlightening.  Even done not quite so well, done by untrained actors with heart and understanding, due to the incredible language and characters the Bard created, the plays can be exciting.

A lot can go wrong with a production of one of the plays, however, from the cast and director simply not understanding the language to the cast and director having entirely too much reverence for it, or, perhaps, too much reverence for how Shakespeare “must be done”.  Some actors perform it (and directors allow them to do so) with low, rumbling voices and studied hand gestures that, as Shakespeare says through Hamlet, have neither “th’ accent of Christians, nor the gait of Christian, pagan, nor man…”  This can be especially disconcerting when one or two actors perform like this while the rest of the cast act something like human beings.

The opening of Macbeth at Theatre Banshee was exciting.  The moody set (by Arthur MacBride) was draped in mist, good Scottish pipe music was playing.  The set itself consisted of several stone slabs standing upright, a stone platform with stone table and three large, rough boulders.  After a well choreographed battle, the sound and lighting (by Michael Mahlum) combined to enhance the darkly magical moment when the Weird Sisters appeared, which I won’t describe here in order to not ruin the effect.

The music (by The Wicked Tinkers) was dark and ominous and, after a moment, felt slightly out of place.  It was then I realized that the strange sounds were being created by a didgeridoo, a very odd choice for a play set firmly in Scotland.

Besides the entrance of the witches, there were some interesting effects, or at least attempts at interesting effects.  One was the appearance of the eight descendants of Banqou, kings all, during one of the Weird Sisters’ prophecies.  The idea of the effect was magnificent (again, I won’t describe it here) but the placement of the lighting and of the actors themselves rendered it almost useless as you could see nothing but a series of glowing lights that might or might not have been live human faces.

The rest of the effects bordered on the laughable (indeed there were some titters in the audience the night I saw it), especially the appearance of Banquo’s ghost at the dinner table, and again during the witches’ prophesying.  The three apparitions that give Macbeth his false hope were curious at best: odd, small puppets.  One looked like nothing but an aborted fetus.  Another a strange white stick figure with headlight eyes.

The actors were a mixed lot.  The three witches, Rebecca Wackler, Kacey Camp and Annie Abrams were marvelously malevolent and camp.  McKerrin Kelly as Lady Macbeth is obviously a very good actress, but seemed, somehow, thin in her portrayal here of the ambitious, then tormented lady.  Rebecca Marcotte was marvelous in her one scene as Lady Macduff; angry, bitter, complex then regally resigned.

Andrew Leman seemed more cowardly then conflicted as Macbeth.  He did have, of course, the requisite deep, rumbling voice.

The battle scenes were wonderfully staged by Brian Danner, who also played Macduff.  The costumes, by Christy M. Hauptman, were, at least, detailed and well constructed.

The play is performed Fridays and Saturdays at 8 pm and Sundays at 2 pm through Sunday, April 26th, 2009.

Theatre Banshee is located at 3435 W. Magnolia in Burbank, CA  91505.

Ticket prices: $20.00, $15 for Seniors and Students and for groups of 6 or more, $12.00 each.

Reservations online at www.theatrebanshee.org or by phone at (818) 846-5323