Someone is getting murdered in a castle in Scotland, and I'm not talking about the new season of
The Traitors. In the Guthrie Theater's new production of Shakespeare's tragedy
Macbeth, it's the king who gets murdered, and we all know who the traitor is - the title character, who then becomes the king. The Guthrie's previous Artistic Director Joe Dowling returns to direct this play, which he also directed in 2010 (just before I started this blog, and the play made it onto
my first annual favorites list), and he has once again crafted a compelling and action-packed continuous two hours of storytelling with no break to catch our collective breath. But the world is much different in 2026 than it was in 2010, and this story of a country and its citizens who are hurt, desperate, and disillusioned by their corrupt leadership hits a lot closer to home. Shakespeare's evergreen tale of unchecked power and greed has resonance in any era, but perhaps never more so in my lifetime than right now.
Macbeth is a dark tale, but eventually the true citizens of the beleaguered country band together to create a better future.
See this powerful, visually stunning, and excellently cast production of a classic on the Guthrie's thrust stage through March 22.
Macbeth is Shakespeare's shortest tragic play, but it doesn't always feel like that. It definitely does here. I love the choice to perform the play without an intermission, with nothing to break the building tension and constant momentum hurtling towards the inevitable conclusion. I love nothing more than to be immersed in storytelling, and all an intermission does is break that spell, and make it harder to get back into it when the storytelling resumes. That's not an issue here; the two hours fly by and before you know it, it's over, and you're jarringly thrust back into the real world, that somehow feels less real than the story you were just immersed in. It's the kind of show after which you might want to go out for a drink with fellow theater-goers for a debrief. It's an intense two hours that barrels through the murders, the witches, the plotting, and the slow unravelling of those plots, ending on an image that will stay with you for a while.
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| the Macbeth court (photo by Dan Norman) |
Under Joe Dowling's direction and in the hands of this marvelous and mostly local cast, the story is crisp and clear and easy to follow, thoroughly engaging and utterly riveting. I can't help but notice the similarity between the show graphics for
Macbeth and the Guthrie's brilliant feat of theater that was
2023's trilogy of plays known as the Henriad - the noble crown that was the focus of those three plays now turned upside down and filled with blood. With Daniel José Molina as Macbeth, appearing at the Guthrie for the first time since playing Prince Hal/King Henry V, it's like a twisted part four of the story that was billed as "a king becomes a man, a man becomes a king, a king becomes a hero," and now... a hero becomes a murderer? But Daniel's Macbeth is much different from his Henry, although he's still an extremely compelling actor who speaks these ancient lines as if they're coming from his soul in the most natural and organic way. He so beautifully portrays the ambition that turns deadly, alongside a powerful Meghan Kreidler as Lady Macbeth,
a literal rock star. The thing that makes this story so tragic is that we like the Macbeths, especially as portrayed by Daniel and Meghan, despite their misguided choices and murderous ways, and grieve for them as it all falls apart, even as we cheer for it to happen.
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the weird sisters (Regina Marie Williams, Sun Mee Chomet,
and John Catron, photo by Dan Norman) |
The supporting cast includes four actors from the 2010 cast - Michelle O'Neill (who previously played Lady Macbeth), Peter Christian Hansen (now as Macbeth's BFF-turned-ghost Banquo), Bill McCallum (here playing the murdered king), and Sun Mee Chomet (reprising her role as Lady Macduff and adding a weird sister). They're joined by too many #TCTheater favorites and newcomers to mention, but to name a few: Daniel Petzold as the murdered king's noble son, David Michaeli in his Guthrie debut bringing some much needed levity, and Regina Marie Williams and John Catron joining Sun Mee to complete the trio of weird sisters, the latter also playing the ultimate hero Macuff, with a rematch of that
Henry IV battle between Hotspur and Price Hal, and this time (spoiler alert) Hotspur comes out on top.
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Molina v. Catron, round 2
(photo by Dan Norman) |
The design of the show is striking and very dark, so much so that when you take your pre-show photo of the program with the set in the background, all you get is a deep dark black hole. The Guthrie's thrust stage is now a black square with sharp edges, two massive black walls at the back of the stage occasionally moving to allow in more light, the few daytime scenes with a backdrop of pale clouds a momentary relief from the dark. About the only color present is red - a red carpet and banners are unfurled for the banquet scene, and the Macbeths' black robes are edged in red, in which they commit their foul deeds. The costume design is modern, almost futuristic, with the soldiers dressed in black uniforms with sharp shoulders. Lady Macbeth has a couple of gorgeous dresses, including a sparkling gold gown with a train and hood, that becomes disheveled as she does. The weird sisters contrast with the neat crisp costumes in loose organic rags of warmer tones. The sound design is ominous and adds to the building tension (scenic design by Riccardo Hernández, costume design by Judith Dolan, lighting design by Philip Rosenberg, sound design by Peter Morrow, composition by Keith Thomas).
This Macbeth is a joy to experience, if an intense and thrilling joy rather than a fun and light-hearted one. And this story has never rung more true.
