Theater Reviews

Oct 31, 2009 - It was a dark and stormy night! Nevada Shakespeare's dark and sensuous "Macbeth" aims to please and most often does

By Jack Neal

As anyone remotely involved with the American political scene knows, the world is filled with social and political climbers. “Macbeth,” Shakespeare’s macabre tragedy about power, is refreshing because it lets us in on a nasty little secret about both: Nothing has changed. To make matters even juicier, the current Nevada Shakespeare Company’s presentation of “Macbeth” follows the Hollywood double-bar-S tradition of sex and sword play.

The sword play as choreographed by fight director J.R. Beardsley is impressive. The sex play by Lady Macbeth, brought to blazing life in this production by the splendid Stephanie Richardson who’s as good at acting as she is at making love, and by Macbeth, played by the equally impressive Joe Atack who is no slouch himself in the lovemaking department, would give the production – were it a movie – an R rating. Both are excellent at creating fully three-dimensional Macbeth personalities – including the couple’s huge flaws.

The Macbeths start out as upwardly mobile types willing to step on anyone - or kill anyone – on their way up. Who can blame them for making hay while the sun shines before Scottish banks foreclose on Dunsinane Castle. In the play’s opening scenes we meet each individually; he a war hero, she a hellion helpmate to his vaulting ambitions. When they finally get together, off they go on a sex-crazed crime spree.

No play has more superstition surrounding it than “Macbeth.” The title itself is avoided by actors in favor of “The Scottish Play” lest the theater they work in become haunted with witches and goblins. How perfect for Halloween and the politics of Nevada Day (for those outside Nevada, Halloween and Nevada’s Admission Day celebration coincide). “Macbeth” should be seen as a story about conscience gone berserk, perfect for Nevada’s current political climate, via a blood-lusting series of events in a damn-the-torpedoes-full-speed-ahead lust for power. The cast is quite good. However, Joe Linscott stands out as Banquo, as does Kristen Brown who creates a regal, and quite believable, cross-gender Malcom.

Rick Patton has created the lighting and it’s as eerily dark as Macbeth’s plot. Molly LeGoy’s costumes are dark, heavy and handsome. Cameron Crane is this excellent production’s producer.

David Weinberg has directed a not quite flawless evening of theater, but he has directed a very compelling one. In the end Weinberg’s “Macbeth” gives audiences plenty of haunting images to think about, but none more explicit than that all the excesses of “Macbeth” are the direct result of the potentially corrupting effect of power. Much as we might think Macbeth’s era was more bloody than our own, think again about American interests abroad and what our country does to get what it wants.

Among many other venues (this production has been touring) the Nevada Shakespeare Company’s “Macbeth” can be seen at the Laxalt Theatre, 401 West Second Street, Reno, Nevada, October 23, 24 (the performance reviewed), 29, 30, 31 (2009) at 8 p.m. For information about “Macbeth” and other Nevada Shakespeare events call 775-232-4974.