Courtesy of Owen Carey
Last weekend, Fir Acres Theatre closed its spring mainstage production of “Macbeth.” If you took our previously published advice and went to see it, you undoubtedly enjoyed yourself. If not, we pity you.
“Macbeth” was an immersive experience with creative and impressive use of lighting, set, props, costuming and sound design. It was obvious to any viewer that care and time were put into every aspect of this production. The actors brought the haunting story to life, with in-depth characterization and impressive delivery of intense dialogue. Ruby Guzman ’25 as Lady Macbeth relieved some of the tension with humorous delivery, while simultaneously portraying the character as a puppeteering mastermind. Percival Walter ’25 did a sensational job of depicting Macbeth’s deteriorating state of mind and sense of morality.
The vivid colors used in lighting, costuming and props animated the stage, with an undeniable focus on green. Anna Kulbashny ’25 left a mark in the audience’s memory as Hecate with her glowing green eyes brought to life by an impressive headpiece with lights. The use of green called attention not only to the growth of the characters but also the underlying rot of morality that progressed as the play went on.
The movement and delivery of the Weird Sisters, Jazz Buskin ’28, Debbie Mukuka ’27 and Angie Bennett ’28, along with Hectate in these scenes, was particularly striking. This impressive and haunting scene contributed immensely to the unnerving feeling the play leaves with the audience. Anyone familiar with “Macbeth” previous to this viewing was happy that the production decided to include the eerie scenes of the Weird Sisters worshipping the goddess Hecate, a scene which is often cut for time in stagings of “Macbeth.” This scene truly brought the horror feeling together and was a great decision from the scripting end.
The creative decision to have Birnam Wood drop from the ceiling, bringing Macbeth’s unfortunate prophecy true, was impressive and unique.
There were also some interesting sci-fi and futuristic elements. The looming, silent orange figures with reflective faces personified the war-ridden, murder-filled past that haunts Macbeth throughout the play. The addition of the eerie, reflective mask to Banquo, played by TJ Muhammad ’26, after his death brought the audience into Macbeth’s confusion and fear of the ghostly figure.
“Macbeth” took aesthetic inspiration from folk horror, and in particular, from Ari Aster, director of horror films “Midsommar” and “Hereditary.” Associate Professor of Theatre Rebecca Lingafelter, the play’s director, made this choice based on the time of year Fir Acres would be staging the production.
“Ari Aster came up because, when we were thinking about doing ‘Macbeth’ in the spring, I was like, you know, ‘(It) is such a fall play,’” Lingafelter said. “I was like, ‘Maybe it’s about green and growing and light,’ and so ‘Midsommar’ was a reference point for that. Like, ‘What does horror look like in the light?’”
Lingafelter thought deeply about inherent gender biases within the play, specifically when it came to the Weird Sisters, the three witches who put Macbeth’s fate into his hands — which are doused in uncleanable blood by the end of the play.
“We started with the folk horror genre as our inspiration, mostly because I was really interested in the role of the witches in the play, and what function they serve, and maybe asking questions about how we can re-envision (them),” Lingafelter said. “In the original ‘Macbeth,’ they are pretty malevolent — it’s not clear whether they’re intentional in having Macbeth take the journey he does, but they are definitely not virtuous spirits.”
Lingafelter also explored the idea of nature in its rawest state and man’s fear of it, which is what much of folk horror draws inspiration from.
“I went back to, kind of, the natural world, and there are a lot of art references in the play to the natural world, (it being) the place from which this power emanates, and the innate fear of what the natural world represents in our lives,” Lingafelter said. “The ‘evil’ that we perceive in the natural world is actually just indifference to human morality — it’s not malevolent.”
Lingafelter finds that, despite the need to reimagine the role of Shakespeare in education and society, many of the themes in his work still ring true today, and the technique it takes to perform his writing onstage is a valuable one to learn.
“I do think he is an extraordinary dramatist. (In) the stories in Shakespeare, the stakes are so high. We’re dealing with kings and queens and murder — it’s not domestic, it’s epic,” Lingafelter said. “There’s a really difficult scene between Malcolm and Macduff that, ultimately, is asking the question of, ‘Is it actually the power that corrupts people, rather than bad, corrupt people coming into power? Is the power itself the problem rather than just the people?’ I think it’s really important because it takes you out of the horror and murder and into, ‘Why do people do this?’ Which I think asks a bigger question about our current state of affairs.”
While on the surface, “Macbeth” has a high entertainment value, with twists that will make you gasp and groan, “ooh” and “ahh,” on a deeper level, it is highly thematically relevant to today’s world in its explorations of corruption of power. If you missed this incredible mainstage, be sure to keep an eye out for future performances, with Dance Y and the graduating seniors’ Thesis Festival coming up soon.
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