By Michele Markarian
MacBeth. Written by William Shakespeare, in a modern verse translation by Migdalia Cruz. Directed by Dawn M. Simmons. Presented by Actors’ Shakespeare Project, The United Parish in Brookline, 210 Harvard Street, Brookline through November 11.
As you walk into the nave of The United Parish of Boston, the setting for Actors’ Shakespeare Project’s “MacBeth”, you feel a deep sense of foreboding. Now okay, anyone familiar with the play has a pretty good idea of what they’re in for, but Actors’ Shakespeare Project’s productions are always wonderfully and dramatically atmospheric, and this show is no exception. Jon Savage’s stark, wood beamed set suggests both elegance and gloom, augmented by Laura Hildebrand’s lighting design and Elizabeth Cahill’s sound design. What follows over the next two and a half hours is one of the more accessible and affecting productions of “MacBeth” that I have ever seen.
MacBeth (Nael Nacer), experiences a magical encounter with Three Witches (Jade Guerra, Alex Casillas and Trinidad Ramkissoon), who predict he will be king. Nacer’s MacBeth, a modest, unassuming sort of guy, is nevertheless encouraged by this bold prophesy, so much so that he shares it with his wife (Paige Clark). With her encouragement, he murders Duncan, the king (Steven Barkhimer), framing it to look like the deed of two drunken bodyguards, who MacBeth murders in the aftermath. Worried that his friend Banquo (Maurice Parent), a witness to the Witches’ prophesy (and to whom the Witches predicted would never be king, just his sons) will somehow rat him out, MacBeth has him killed as well. Not a great way to begin a reign, for sure. And the carnage doesn’t stop. When MacBeth commands the slaughter of the family of rival general MacDuff (Ed Hoopman), payback time begins.
Under Dawn M. Simmons’s taut direction, this “MacBeth” soars with tension, violence and beauty, and is brought to life by a first-rate cast of some of Boston’s finest actors. Nacer is a terrific, nuanced MacBeth, his descent into madness and paranoia a slow unraveling of a decent man who’s been tricked by his own ambition, his guilt over his deeds a barrier to enjoying the fruits of his labor. As Lady MacBeth, Clark is wonderful; her open, expressive face able to convey many things at once. What makes Nacer and Clark human in the roles is their vulnerability; the MacBeths are like two frightened children who are betrayed by the enormity of their actions. They cling to and support one another, even as they’re falling apart. Nacer’s portrayal of a grieving husband is heartbreaking. Unlike other MacBeths I have seen, he is not a man henpecked and bullied by a nasty woman’s cruel ambition, but a man deeply in love with his wife, who reciprocates his feelings. “This I share with you, my partner in greatness”, MacBeth writes to his lady, after hearing of the prophecy. Love, after all, is what binds them.
Parent plays Banquo with dignified gravity, one of the few grownups in the piece. Hoopman’s grief over the deaths of his wife and son is palpable. Guerra shines in her multiple roles. Her Witch has an electrifying presence that commands attention; the murder of Lady MacDuff and her son (Nael Nacer) is one of the more disturbing scenes we witness. Barkhimer’s excellent range is evidenced in his ability to take on roles of different statuses.
“Who are the Three Witches?” I asked my friend after the show. “That’s the age-old question,” she said, and we proceeded to discuss. Are they real? Personifications of evil? Influences within ourselves? Or the necessary forces used to propel what we know as fate? Director Simmons sometimes positions them as cast members, such as the disgruntled men who MacBeth convinces to murder Banquo, making the point that indeed, they may walk among us. Migdalia Cruz’s modern verse translation is accessible, while keeping the language and flow of the original. It’s a production that inspires discussion, and in our present era, where gross misdeeds go without punishment, the karma here is oddly, weirdly, satisfying.
For tickets and information, go to: https://www.actorsshakespeareproject.org/
