
MACBETH
by William Shakespeare
E-52 | Spring 2011
In lieu of giving you my "take" on Macbeth (we tried to tell the story honestly and movingly), I'm going to tell you about why this project meant so much to me and my development as a director.
From day one, this was a laboratory show. Some of the production staff were new designers, we cast actors who were new to the theatre, and we had almost no budget. I worked collaboratively with the actors and the artistic team on many of the design elements and tried my hand at directing in some new staging configurations and with fight choreography. We sought out co-sponsorships and partnered with local schools, sending our actors to visit high school classes to discuss Macbeth and its performance history. I brought in directing mentors to watch my work and give me feedback and some professional actors in the community worked on monologues with some of our leads. The center of this show was the story, yes, but its heartbeat was the opportunities we took to experiment and to learn as a theatre community.
This production was ultimately edifying because it accomplished what I think the best theatre does: it brought people together, asked them to try out new thoughts or new ways of thinking, and gave them (and us) a space to feel for and with one another. Theatre can be raw and still beautiful. This production reminded me how it's important to never stop learning, growing, and most importantly, playing.

Featuring
Kurt Meusel
Danielle Hillanbrand
Scott Bass
Kate Banford
Tyler Rommel
Fallon Rice
Caitlyn Goodhue
Gretchen Spencer
Alex Minore
Christine Barba
Christine Marks
Arthur Reed
Production Team
Stage Manager: Steve Kirvan
Set: Tyler Rodriguez
Lighting: Erinn Triplett
Sound: Sparky Haden
Costumes: Lindsey Guenther
Fight Choreography: Kelli Shermeyer