Five actors from Actors From The London Stage visited our campus to perform their take on Shakespeare’s Macbeth from September 29 to October 1. This year they’re doing a tour across America, showcasing their production of Macbeth. While the play went on, as it would normally be orally performed, the direction of the production was unconventional. It made the formality of Shakespearean literature feel more modernized in sound, when in reality, nothing was being changed about the speech or expression of it.

What stood out to me about this play was the engagement that the audience received. The actors spent much of their stage time looking out at the audience during their soliloquies and made the play feel more accessible. They were fervent and purposeful in their gestures. It felt like the actors playing these characters hoped to guide the audience back into the play during these moments. The actors made sure to utilize all the space they were given for their stage, and they did not shy away from closing distances to reach out to the audience either through their gestures or their lines. Most of the steps made by the actors prepared all of them for their next line or scene, making all of the transitions a smooth production that guided us as the audience back into the acts that we were witnessing.

I expected to be going to the Rowe building on campus but I was directed to Robinson hall’s black box theatre that sat small crowds of people on either side of the actors and at the front of them. This more intimate space meant there wasn’t much room for stage decor; once I realized that, I knew this play would be an unconventional take on Macbeth. Albeit I could have guessed that earlier with the five sole actors playing well over 30 characters. 

Costume props such as hats, scarves, or swords/sword holders that could be easily donned and torn off their bodies were the actors’ main distinction of the different characters they played. They wore neutral outfits that generalized their characters easier, and what they lacked in stage resources, they made up for in hand held instruments used for a variety of different sounds. This innovative execution of Macbeth offered an intimate experience hearing one of Shakespeare’s most famed plays.

The proximity of the actors to the audience made for an incredible performance, allowing for a level of familiarity that made it easy to follow the play’s acts. When thinking of plays, most of us may only consider that they are just stage productions which include specially arranged decor, intricate costumes, and many extras. This production of Macbeth, however, displayed how Shakespearean plays can be viewed in more intimate and focused settings. It was the kind of rendition that made the plot simpler to understand; it made for a lasting impression on someone like me, who has never been able to appreciate the art of Shakespearean literature.