"Macbeth"

August 4, 2010 — Leave it to Artistic Director Donna Devlin-Young, Executive Manager Will Hammond and their superb acting troupe to make Shakespeare's arguably most brutal and sadistic play a fun evening for families. This evening, Theatre Under the Stars staged "Macbeth" at the Jewish Center of New Hampshire in Manchester. The play was performed on a children's playground and the cast made effective use of playground equipment as part of their stage.

Although somewhat shortened, the play was faithful to Shakespeare's original. Superfluous dialog and characters were cut, but so skillfully the sense of the play and its dramatic flow were unimpeded. Will and Donna had the lead rolls of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth and played their parts with such evil menace, they drew appreciative boos from the enthusiastic audience.

The players were dressed in full period costume, the only way I like my Shakespeare. The witches were a hoot. All supporting actors turned in excellent performances and it was a thoroughly enjoyable evening, in spite of some very un-Elizabethan background noise, such as fire sirens and planes flying overhead. Several children in the audience, no doubt bored with all that incomprehensible (to them) dialog, found their own entertainment on some playground equipment behind the audience and out of the way of the action.

Theatre Under the Stars' 2010 season is nearing its end. What's left of their schedule can be found on their website at:

http://www.shakespeareinthevalley.com/