Elise Poehling, Chioma Anyanwu, Elaine Clifford, Jacques Roy and Cinnamon Schultz in Macbeth (Dean Davison)
The Heart of America Shakespeare Festival is back for its 34th season with one of Shakespeare’s most macabre tragedies, Macbeth. Despite the play’s darkness and violence, the tragedy plays exceptionally well in the family-friendly festival setting.
Audiences, especially those newer to Shakespeare, can find it surprising how timely these 400-year-old plays often feel. But the playwright’s overarching themes remain relevant centuries later. (That’s likely a large part of Shakespeare’s lasting cultural significance.)
Macbeth, about a man’s bloody path to the crown after being convinced he’s entitled to ever-increasing positions of power, is no exception to this feeling of spooky timeliness. As Heart of America’s Executive Artistic Director (and this play’s director), Sidonie Garrett, eloquently lays out in her program note, “even in its darkness, the play offers something profoundly hopeful: the reminder that tyranny can be resisted, that corruption eventually collapses, and that communities can reclaim their future through courage and collective will.”
With that sentiment in mind, the Shakespeare Festival’s home of Southmoreland Park is the perfect setting for this play. I’ve always loved the casualness of outdoor Shakespeare festivals. Audiences spread their blankets and chairs, picnicking next to strangers and friends alike. That communal nature, plus the distant noise from nearby streets and the daylight extending nearly to intermission, all coalesce into an event that can feel just as much like a community gathering as a traditional theatre outing.
That casual atmosphere does give the performers some extra obstacles to work against. Fortunately, the cast is exceptional and, under Garrett’s expert direction, has no trouble holding the audience’s attention, even amid all the extra distractions.
That’s especially impressive, given how text-heavy this play is. Garrett makes great use of the witches who spark Macbeth’s bloody journey (a superb Chioma Anyanwu, Elise Poehling, and Elaine Clifford). They are a visually gripping, borderline feral opposition to the medieval nobles at the show’s center. There aren’t many comedic breaks in this script, but Garrett mines the rare ones beautifully. The porter’s (Matt Rapport) extended attempt to open a door (and the many raunchy innuendos that follow) is a bonanza of well-earned laughs.
The entire cast is extremely solid, but Cinnamon Schultz’s turn as Lady Macbeth is worth a trip out to see this production all on its own. The way Schultz commands the stage is mesmerizing. The character’s ambition is palpable starting the moment she’s told of the future the witches have laid out in front of her husband. As she cajoles Macbeth (Jacques Roy) into action, her tactics shift between forceful and discomfortingly gentle, but her manipulation remains laser-focused.
The show’s excellent design elements make great use of the transition from daylight to darkness that occurs during every performance. Scenic Designer Kelli Herrod’s towering, broken-down castle is a solid backdrop from the start. But when the sun sets, just as Macbeth is starting to be driven mad by his own murderous actions, its gray hue darkens, and Ward Everhart’s lighting fills the stage with ominous shadows, bringing out previously unseen depth.
The same is true for Mary Traylor’s costumes. In the famous Banquo’s Ghost scene, Macbeth’s overwhelming guilt manifests as a terrifying vision of his murdered friend (Paul Molnar). Macbeth screams and clamors, and as Lady Macbeth tries to calm her husband in front of their dinner party guests, Ward’s lighting brings out the dazzling gold adorning the couple’s costumes. The contrast between the fruits of their schemes and their consequences is striking. Some will dismiss the way that timing underscores the play’s themes as coincidence, but I think that underestimates the designers’ obvious skills and their ability to make the unconventional lighting work in their favor.
Between the storms and this week’s extreme heat, Kansas City’s weather has not been very conducive to outdoor theatre. But if you can brave it, the Heart of America Shakespeare Festival remains a fantastic outing. The quality of the production is stellar as always, and the sense of community in the park during performances is something to be treasured.
“Macbeth,” a production of the Heart of America Shakespeare Festival, runs through July 5 at Southmoreland Park, 4600 Oak St. For more information visit www.kcshakes.org.
