The garage is dark. There are four crates, spread in a loose cluster. One makes the bed of a sleeping man. He is cast in an ethereal, bluish light and as he wakes voices boom from hidden speakers. As the echoes reverberate around the room, the company enters, and “Macbeth” begins its whirlwind ride through insanity.
The setting of AU Players’ “Macbeth” may at first seem an odd logistical choice — it wasn’t easy to find (located in the P3 level of the Katzen Parking Garage), there’s no set stage and unfortunately, AU couldn’t do a thing about having one of the more climatic scenes interrupted by a revving Ford Explorer.
“There were some very unique challenges to working with the space,” Director Leah Pope said.
However, Pope pulled off working within the confines of a parking garage with skill and finesse, and said the space had “a certain resonance.”
“[We did things in Katzen] that we couldn’t do in Kay,” she said.
The “we” behind the show? A talented cast of primarily freshman, a motley crew of mechanicals — and some truly excellent actors.
“It was a very personal show,” Pope said. “Every cast member took it and made it their own,” Pope said.
Take Macbeth for instance, played by freshman Ariel Duffy. From the beginning of the play, he plays a devoted husband first, and a hubristic quasi-villain second. His acting, especially when coupled with the brilliant sociopathy of Emily Goodell (the talented sophomore behind Lady Macbeth) embodies the bone-chilling theme of corruption and the addicting nature of power extending throughout the play. Goodell is perhaps the stand-out thespian in this show — she walks a fine line between madness and despair and keeps the audience enraptured throughout the show.
Another standout actor is sophomore Brad Parker, the fight captain and actor for Macduff. He is not only a talented actor, full of force and personality, but also an incredible swordsman. His climatic final battle with Macbeth was one of the standout moments of the play — the vigor and intensity looks downright professional — as it should. The fights were all directed by AU alumnus Kyle Encinas, a professional fight director who AU Players got for “much cheaper than we should have,” according to Pope.
The cast is rounded out by a fine set of secondary and tertiary characters — sophomore Erin Crandell (Lady Macbeth’s servant, and Lady Macduff) delivers perverted Shakespearean humor in finest order, and freshman Zachary Cohen delivers a fine performance as the Thane Angus. It is an intensely passionate show that suffers only (if at all) from some slow pacing in the middle. However, when the show hits its unraveling, the emotional vitality the cast delivers under the fine direction of Pope speeds the show along to a wonderful conclusion.
It is very rare for additions to the Bard’s work to improve the show, but the final moments of the play cast Macbeth’s very madness into doubt, and left the audience speechless. Leah Pope, the cast and all involved should be fiercely proud of their fine production.
thescene@theeagleonline.com
