A VACILLATING VILLAIN AND HIS FIENDISH
WIFE
MACBETH
Directed by Jeri Pitcher; written by William Shakespeare
With: Kevin Barber, Jessica Pohly, Dennis Price, Todd Quick, Andy Stokan,
Kristen Harlow, Putnam Smith, and Sarah Jessop
At Winthrop Performing Arts Center in Winthrop, Maine, as part of the
Theater at Monmouth’s 2008 winter tour sponsored by the National Endowment
for the Arts/Arts Midwest Shakespeare in American Communities-Shakespeare
for a new generation
On January
18, 2008
Reviewed by Laurie Meunier Graves
Macbeth might be one of Shakespeare’s better-known plays, but in Maine,
at least, it is not produced with any sort of regularity. By my count, it
has only been performed twice by professional theaters in the past eight
years—at the Theater at Monmouth in 2000 and in 2001 as an educational tour
sponsored by Penobscot Theater. Certainly it is not one of Shakespeare’s
jolliest plays, and the two main characters—Lady and Lord Macbeth—are a
whining, one might even say tiresome, pair of schemers that most
theatergoers will not find easy to connect with. Yet the Macbeths’ bloody
grasp for power is not an aberration limited to the Middle Ages, when the
play is set, or to the early 1600s, when the play was written. Tyrants ran
amok during the twentieth century, and unfortunately they are still with us
in the twenty-first century. The notion of fate also gives the play added
interest. Would the Macbeths have thought of murdering King Duncan if the
three witches, “the weird sisters,” hadn’t made their tantalizing
prophesies? Would the Macbeths have been content with the promotion given
after a successful battle?
We’ll
never know, of course, because the play starts with “thunder and lightening”
and the entrance of the three witches, who proclaim “fair is foul, and foul
is fair” and who have declared their intention to meet Macbeth on the heath.
It’s a short scene, but even those who have never seen the play will realize
those witches are up to no good.
Scene
II immediately follows with the triumph of King Duncan of Scotland in a
battle instigated by Norway and aided by a former ally, the thane of Cawdor,
who has been captured and executed. We still haven’t met Macbeth, but we
learn that it is largely because of his efforts that the king is victorious,
and as a reward, King Duncan vows to give Macbeth the title of thane of
Cawdor.
In the
meantime, Macbeth and another general named Banquo, who are unwisely
wandering about on the heath, come across the three witches. In short order,
Macbeth and Banquo hear the prophecies, that Macbeth shall be thane of
Cawdor, and better, yet, king of Scotland. As for Banquo, he shall “get
kings, though [he] be none.” The witches vanish, and faster than you can
say, “By the pricking of my thumbs,” Ross and Angus, two “noblemen,” come
upon Macbeth and Banquo with the startling news that the king has made
Macbeth the thane of Cawdor.
Macbeth
quickly sends word to his wife and tells her of the witches, their
prophecies, and how at least one of them has come to pass: He is now thane
of Cawdor. This is more than enough to spur Lady Macbeth, who immediately
starts plotting King Duncan’s downfall, and, as another of Shakespeare’s
famous kings would say, “the game is afoot,” with enough murder, blood,
prophesies, paranoia, and madness for two or three plays.
Naturally, at the hot, tight center are Lady Macbeth, with her cruel, hard
ambition, and Lord Macbeth, who wants to be king but initially, at least,
isn’t really sure if he wants it bad enough to murder King Duncan and needs
Lady Macbeth to egg him on. The two feed off each other and are so closely
bound that no production can succeed without strong, intense actors in those
lead roles. Because while we might neither like nor admire the Macbeths, we
should at least be fascinated by their intense longing for power that mixes
with equally strong feelings of guilt and remorse once the deed is done.
By
casting Kevin Barber as Macbeth and Jessica Pohly as Lady Macbeth, the
Theater at Monmouth has found two young actors who are more than up for
their challenging roles as this production tours the state of Maine during
winter 2008. The rest of the small cast is certainly solid, but Barber and
Pohly are so good that their energy kept theatergoers riveted during the
performance I saw. No matter how horrible their actions, and they were
horrible indeed, we were unable to look away and watched with awful
fascination as the Macbeths murdered their way to the top. Barber, dark and
very handsome, not only made Macbeth’s vacillation and subsequent cruelty
believable, but he also made the language sing, no small feat for an actor,
young or otherwise. Pohly, with her dark, broad features, brought a sexual
rapaciousness to her role that seemed entirely appropriate. Those who are
power hungry must get quite a charge, however fleeting, when their ambitions
are realized, and it is a good actor’s job to make this charge visible for
theatergoers, which Pohly certainly did. She also gave a moving performance
as the mad, guilt-ridden Lady Macbeth, and her keening during the famous
“out, damned spot” scene sent a chill through me. This production will be
traveling to many high schools throughout the state, and it’s my guess that
these two young actors will cause quite a stir among students. Good. Perhaps
some of the students will even be motivated to seek out other of
Shakespeare’s plays, in print, on stage, and in the movies.
Dennis
Price, who has been with the Theater at Monmouth for many years, also
deserves praise for his very funny performance as the porter. Sandwiched
between bloody scenes, the porter’s annoyed and garrulous response to being
woken during the middle of the night is the only humorous moment in this
otherwise grim play. Price, dressed in winter clothes and looking as though
he just escaped from The Red Green Show, brought a high-pitched
hilarity to the Porter’s speech, shrieking like Harold, Red’s annoying
nephew in the aforementioned show. It is a welcome interlude, and Price got
all he can out of this scene, which is famous in its own right.
Finally, although there was some dissent about this in my own family,
primarily from my daughter, I liked the use of electric guitar music in some
of the key scenes. Harsh and dissonant, it set exactly the right tone for
the play.
As is
noted in this review’s credits, this production was funded by money from the
National Endowment for the Arts. I expect that without the funding, this
tour of Macbeth would not be possible, and we should all be grateful
that such funding exists. If this production of Macbeth comes to a
community near you, go see it, and I’m sure you’ll agree that it’s a fine
use of taxpayers’ money. 
