Sword fights and murders filled Southfield High’s stage recently when the Michigan Shakespeare Festival performed “The Tragedy of Macbeth.”
The touring festival is presenting Shakespearean plays to school audiences across Michigan, to give students a taste of live theatre.
Southfield High recently hosted the production for its seniors because most senior English classes read “Macbeth” this year.
Directed by David Blixt, the play is a collaboration of love, violence and calamity.
The play tells the tragic tale of power-hungry Macbeth, artfully played by Jeffrey Stringer. After three devious witches (Mona Lucius, Sarah Leahy, Allyson Ortwein) prophesize Macbeth’s future, their predictions come true. Macbeth becomes King after his wife, Lady Macbeth (Allyson Ortwein) convinces him to kill King Duncan (Dennis Kleinsmith). The action then takes a turn for the worse.
The play includes exhilarating sword-fighting scenes that feature real steel swords. To add to the enthusiasm, the actors run up and down the auditorium’s aisles, making the audience feel like part of the action. Adding to the play’s appeal was the quality of the acting. The actors were better than good, and very convincing.
The play ran for 95 minutes, which could be too much for some. A few viewers caught sleepy spells about halfway through. Adding to the tediousness was the Old English dialogue, which is inherent in Shakespeare’s works. Though that is the nature of Shakespeare, the actors were difficult to understand for those who hadn’t read the play.
But to see or not to see, that is the real question. The answer is yes. All in all, the play was a valuable enrichment experience for those who attended.