What could be more perfect than an October night with creepy whispers, ghoulish ghosts, and blood-spattered murder? Coronado Playhouse signs on to tackle Halloween inspired creep-classic in Desha Crownover’s interpretation of Shakespeare’s classic “Macbeth”, now playing through the end of October. Audiences are greeted by a welcome house change in the Coronado Playhouse space, a reprieve from the typical cabaret-style seating arrangements to more traditional row seating; a change CPH generally uses to accommodate the large crowds that the free Shakespeare series (sponsored by the city of Coronado) typically draws. The set is both nowhere and everywhere, a forest of bare posts diffused by curtains of slaughter-house plastic strips eerily lit in pale, ethereal violets from above, below, and behind, with each post bearing a single candle at its base like a will-o-the-wisp. The actors, expressionless and ominous, appear in a lightning flash (gorgeous lighting effect used sparingly throughout the production to great effect) through the strips of slaughterhouse plastic and emerge to take possession in teams of three of immense gauzy, ghostly puppets to perform the infamous opening witches scene. All the witches lines were performed in trios of whispers, accentuated by sparkly skeletal hands and filmy, faceless wisps of white drapery. Kira Blaskovich takes the scene as the doomed Duncan, both effortless and commanding in a regal but feminine take on the role of King; she passes that mantle to Cecelia Harchegani, whose overly bright and smiley choices in the first act stood out almost incongruously against the dismal aspect of the remainder of the cast, but which resolved themselves nicely into a dynamic arc for her character when she settled into the role of orphan, reluctant leader and finally King herself. The Porter, a difficult comic role that seems to be by turns edited out completely by directors or overexpanded into bloated improvisation, was played to gruesome, ghoulish perfection by Martin White, who breaks the fourth wall engagingly but at the same time laughs off both the audience and the players as fools. Julia Giolzetti as Lady Macduff takes a playful turn at the classic forgotten wife role, a nice demonstration of lightness and range from her after her very Lady Macbethian intensity as Princess Kate in CPH’s recent “King Charles II”; the character too often comes off as self-pitying and pathetic but Giolzetti manages to lend interest, sarcasm, and wit to the anguished mother that makes her two scenes seem far too short. Nicholas Hessling has a surprising character development as the partially remorseful murderer who allows young Fleance to live and then must deliver the news to the unraveling Macbeth, a wonderful moment of layered nuance, but it made me wish he then hadn’t also appeared in the later murder scene of Lady Macduff and her children where he cheerfully butchers Macduff’s young child. All the children were played with excellent acumen by Cameron Britt, who handled the language as masterfully as his adult cast mates and brought childlike joy, wonder, and fear to his roles in turn. One of the difficulties with a cast utilizing the ensemble in swing roles is differentiating separate characters played by an easily recognizable actor, like a child. The text gives little to work with to really give face and voice to the different children; and the monochromatic coloring of the costumes blended from one set of characters to another, so it was difficult to tell which of the four characters Britt was meant to be when he returned to challenge Macbeth in the final scenes, as he had to that point played both the son of a murdered father and the ghost of a murdered child. A more distinct costuming choice from the director might have clarified that he was neither. Russell Clements shines in a likable, endearing turn at Banquo, portraying the oft-times grim specter with humor and warmth, true camaraderie and chemistry with Macbeth (Samuel Young) and his son Fleance (Britt). Oft cast for his skill at physical comedy (Much Ado About Nothing, The 39 Steps), Clements infused personality into the dramatic role without sacrificing the youth and energy he brings to the stage.
Erin Peterson and Samuel Young as the eponymous Macbeth and his Lady are the show’s standouts. Neither takes the over-intense, rabid madness approach to chewing the scenery that is so often slavered upon this play, but both rather chose a much more nuanced and subtle performance. Peterson as Lady Macbeth is not bloodthirsty but ambitious, not wild-eyed, but persuasive; her determination melts into fear of her own husband and ultimately the most delicately unraveling madness. Her small size worked in her favor with her energy and force of personality as she maneuvered both Macbeth himself and all the men of his table into her design without nagging or berating, a frightening, beautiful personification of Macbeth’s admiring invective to her, “Bring forth men children only, for thy undaunted mettle should compose nothing but males!” Young’s portrayal of Macbeth is gentle at times, soft-spoken, introspective. We see so clearly the struggle for the soul, the battle with his conscience, the thorns pricking at his conscience. His few moments of physical violence are restrained and terrifying: an embrace that becomes a throttling inescapable grip on Lady Macbeth’s throat; an almost tender confrontation with young Britt in which he seems to be preparing to disarm and release the young attacker but instead runs him through and leaves his body in quiet disdain. We see Macbeth’s humanity and how easily an ordinary loyal man is turned to cold murder.
Only a very few things were troublesome in this ambitious, conceptual piece. The use of body mics, always troublesome in this space, were hugely distracting when at least three or four were constantly going out, whining, or feeding back, if not turned up too high and distorting the sound. The witches in particular were a problem because the balance between the nine actors required to play the three witches in chorus was off; one voice would be loudly amplified while the others were in sepulchral whispers. The mics were also troublesome for these straight play actors, unused to the body mics more commonly used for musical theatre, as many audibly touched or bumped their scene partner’s mic in the course of their blocking. The witch puppets themselves were a problem for the same reason–the unfamiliar puppetry skills from the actors; the puppets gave big impact but the trios of actors weren’t able to truly accomplish the vision of constant synchronized movement, as well as expression from the faceless heads. I wanted some cocked head movement, some moments of reaching with both hands, some cohesion among the three actors working each puppet, and what came across was somewhat of a mishmash with each of the three actors trying to create movement disjunct from the others. One actor inside each puppet would have accomplished the same effect of the sexless ghostly figures with much greater cohesion.
The technological aspects of this show in lighting, set design, and sound, however, far outweigh any minor problems,. The special lighting for the ghost of Banquo; the patterns that turn the slaughterhouse curtains into trees in the forest were subtle and beautiful. The creepy music that lightly underscores every monologue, the backdrop of these industrial tarps that dripped blood and caught blood and silhouetted shadows of the soul and the mind were brilliantly executed. The final fight between Macduff and Macbeth is often a flaw in any community theatre production, as the fencing skills required for a truly ferocious, violent confrontation are next to impossible to develop in such a short time; but Crownover’s reconceptualizing this scene into ghostly figures which surround Macbeth and prevent him from fighting back effectively before swirling into the ethereal void of the slaughterhouse curtains and signifying his death with a splash of blood was flawless. CPH’s “Macbeth” is art on a shoestring budget. With a near-perfect cast of trained, intelligent, flexible actors, and a team of brilliant technical artists, Desha Crownover has managed to put forward a Shakespeare production that rivals the big budget musicals at Coronado.
Reserved seats for this show are unfortunately fully booked; however, walk-ins can still expect to be seated albeit with a bit of a wait time. Patrons should expect to show up thirty minutes before curtain to reserve a walk-up seat, but with a production value this high for a free show, it’s well worth the wait. Thursday Friday and Saturday at 8:00 p.m. and Sunday at 2:00 p.m., now through October 28th.
Photo credits: Ken Jacques
San Diego Theatre Reviews 