Baring your soul to an audience is one thing. But baring it all? Being stripped down to nothing more than your birthday suit — well, that takes a little more courage and a whole lot of moxie.
Not that the folks at Washington Shakespeare Company have ever shied away from controversy. And certainly summertime in Washington lends a pretty perfect excuse to prance around onstage — and they do prance — in the buff. But an all-nude, au naturel staging of “Macbeth?”
What were they thinking?
» The Highlights
Not one costume or piece of clothing can be found onstage at the Clark Street Playhouse in José Carrasquillo’s dark and shadowy production. Carrasquillo took a risk with his primitive, ambitious staging, using nudity as a metaphor for transparent ambition and the inherent power of human nature. And for a play that relies heavily upon atmosphere, this murky “Macbeth” has it in droves.
There’s a good deal of anthropomorphism at work here, and Carrasquillo’s cast are game to playing everything from eye of newt to tongue of dog, daring the audience to move past the confines of reality and join them in a malevolent world reigned by the supernatural.
» The Lowlights
Unfortunately the conceit wears thin after the first five minutes, and after you’ve taken the opportunity to size up the display and settle in to the notion that this “Macbeth” precedes even Shakespeare’s imagination, then the glaring insecurities of this brave company begin to surface. Some of the actors don’t seem comfortable in their own skin, striking odd poses that work against their bodies, struggling to define characters with unnatural staging and delivering intimate dialogue as stately speeches intended for the audience.
Carrasquillo also belabors his point by presenting what is usually noted as one of the Bard’s shortest plays in its gruesome entirety. The production crawls alongat a snail’s pace past three excruciating hours.
» The Cast
It doesn’t help that the entire cast of characters has been pared down to an ensemble of 10 actors, and the doubling and tripling of characters is often confusing, leaving some of the physical choices downright baffling. One of the most basic elements of theater is the necessity to believe that these are real characters onstage — in real jeopardy — and with the lack of costumes it becomes nearly impossible to delineate between characters, classes and crimes.
Ashley Robinson is a powerful presence with her first witch and easily detected Lady Macduff, and Heather Haney is another eerie witch screeching and cackling in the night. Daniel Eichner’s Macbeth is a wispy thing, frail and unfettered by Kathleen Akerley’s frustratingly subdued Lady Macbeth — and her performance is further complicated as she pulls double duty as Hecate, queen of the witches.
» The Designers
We know this is one of the Bard’s darkest plays, but Ayun Fedorcha’s tender lighting does not adequately illuminate the faces and expressions of the actors onstage. Her moody, clouded effects work best as patches of moonlight on Giorgos Tsappas’ triangular platform, while tall, slender trees stand guard at both sides of the set.
» Munch on This
No one can deny that Carrasquillo had an artistic vision with his bare version of “Macbeth,” and perhaps even an inspired one at that. But there is also no denying that his concept, dabbling in the themes of witchcraft and the darker forces at work in human nature, does little to enhance or elevate Shakespeare’s Scottish play. It’s an airless exercise, drowning in violent superstition and stifled by its own needless form, ultimately diminishing one of the greatest tragedies to nothing more than an ineffective experiment.
‘Macbeth”
Directed by José Carrasquillo
Through July 15
» Venue: Clark Street Playhouse
601 S. Clark St., Arlington
» Tickets: $25 to $35; Saturday matinees: pay what you can
» Venue: 8 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays; 2 p.m. Sundays
» Info: 800-494-TIXS, washingtonshakespeare.org
