“Macbeth” has been my favorite Shakespeare play for as long as I can remember. I didn’t truly fall in love with Shakespeare’s works until I read it, so when I had the opportunity to see Actors’ Shakespeare Project’s (ASP) production, directed by Christopher V. Edwards, on Friday, Oct. 17, I jumped at the chance. This wasn’t my first ASP show, either; I had seen their production of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” earlier this year, and thoroughly enjoyed their take on one of the most famous of Shakespeare’s comedies. My expectations were high. Most importantly, spoilers ahead!
When I got to the theater, the first thing I noticed was the set. The major pieces for the entirety of the show were four scrims—a curtain-esque piece of lighting technology used for various effects—and not much more. The shadow work with the scrims was brilliant for the entire show, and my favorite lighting and choreography moments heavily used them. According to Edwards’ director’s note in the program, they reframed the show, calling it “MK-Beth … what if the Weird Sisters weren’t sorceresses at all, but the architects of state-sponsored psychological manipulation?” This is where my primary criticisms of the show began.
Before I cast harsher judgments, I want to highlight what I enjoyed about “MK-Beth.” The acting was phenomenal, notably from Brooke Hardman (Lady Macbeth) and Jesse Hinson (Banquo/Doctor). Since he is my favorite character in any Shakespearean play, I had very high standards for Banquo, and he was very well-acted. Lady Macbeth is an incredibly difficult role to portray, and Hardman’s talent shined through every word she spoke. If you remove the issues the original text covers, it is a strong commentary on government corruption and the horrors of MK-Ultra. The work with the scrim was incredible, and the sound design was amazing. However, it fell short in terms of the most important thing: plot.
As someone who has read “Macbeth” several times, I know what happens over the course of the play. The short and summarized version is that the titular character receives a prophecy, is influenced by his wife to act on it, kills a bunch of people, becomes a tyrannical king and then is killed and overthrown by the technical crown prince and his army. “MK-Beth” does not do this. Yes, Macbeth still kills a bunch of people, becomes a tyrannical king and is then overthrown, but what is perhaps the most important part was entirely removed in this production. The Weird Sisters, or Three Witches, deliver Macbeth several prophecies over the course of the original text, and Lady Macbeth encourages him to act on them, thus driving him to kill. As a result, one of the major scholarly arguments surrounding “Macbeth” is autonomy vs. fate. Was Macbeth’s downfall his own fault, or fate as given to him by the Weird Sisters? Does Lady Macbeth’s interference mess with either side of the debate? “MK-Beth,” instead of allowing audiences to consider this nuanced argument, straightforwardly says no. Everything is because of mind control. The Witches are mind-controlling Macbeth with the words of the prophecy. Lady Macbeth is being mind-controlled by no words at all, only illegal “therapies.” They are going insane together, but they are insane from the beginning. Part of the fun is watching the Macbeths go insane in the original texts, and we don’t get any of that. The removal of Lady Macbeth’s agency takes away a large chunk of her character, and her portrayal is quite far off from what Shakespeare seemed to intend.
In addition, the lack of Lady Macbeth’s agency and the notion that all of her actions are due to mind control plays into ideas of female hysteria. Does she get any chance to act on her own will? No, because she’s deemed crazy from the start. The production addresses her struggles in the way that she has female hysteria, an incorrect and misogynistic diagnosis. This is especially jarring with the reworking of the famous Porter speech, where the Porter breaks the fourth wall and jokes to the audience about the current American political atmosphere. He then goes into an edited version of Jaques’ famous monologue from “As You Like It,” and it all felt like an attempt to score “woke points.” Of course, in the very next scene, they gave a character a Southern accent and played him down to nothing more than negative stereotypes. Not only was the speech out of place, but it was also hypocritical.
During the majority of “MK-Beth,” it felt like the characters were saying words without meaning. The plot of the scene would vaguely follow what was intended, but the dialogue didn’t seem to mean anything at all. How can Macbeth monologue about decisions when it is clear he doesn’t have one? The original themes felt downplayed, if not totally lost. They even managed to remove the agency of the Weird Sisters, and had them as weird players in a game they normally at least have some control over. Macbeth isn’t himself without his moral dilemma, Lady Macbeth isn’t herself without pure ambition and the play isn’t “Macbeth” without giving the characters meaning. The ending felt pointless. Instead of defeating an insane tyrant, Macduff and Malcolm’s opposing army defeated … mind control?
Ultimately, “MK-Beth” tries too hard to be “woke,” and seems to prove political horseshoe theory right by trying so hard to the point where things become genuinely offensive. With all props to the actors and technical designers, it seemed the play disregarded the plot and meaning for stylistic points that fell short. It seems like there wasn’t care for the play “Macbeth,” and rather, care for an MK-Ultra vision that misinterpreted the plot to its desire. Finally, for the majority of the show, the audience was led to believe the setting was Cold War-era America, while it turned out to be Cold War-era Scotland, a nation that wasn’t a major player in that fight. Trying to be historically accurate while disregarding the historical accuracy of other elements felt off, and the phrase “Cold War Scotland” has become a way, between my friends who have seen it, to highlight the overall inaccuracies of the production.
After seeing “MK-Beth,” I am yearning for a production that keeps the core themes of the original text present. However, I envy anyone who gets to design lighting on such an elaborate set of scrims, and I think the actors did a good job portraying their characters in the way the production intended.
