Photo by Lisa Fadden
UW-Milwaukee Theatre’s production of Macbeth came and went in a single weekend at Kenilworth Studio 508. Set in an ambiguous contemporary age, William Shakespeare’s tragedy was immersed in leather and denim. On one occasion, Lady Macbeth received news via smartphone. The old familiar story of ambition and gloomy fate asserted itself through the show’s shadowy modernity.
Director Raeleen McMillion moved things along in whispers and silence punctuated by great bursts of dramatic energy. McMillion used the immersive nature of the tiny studio theater to impressive effect. There was a charming contrast between the jovial party atmosphere in happier group scenes and the hellish chaos of combat. Fight choreographer Mark Weinberg did a fairly impressive job with the action. There was an explosively kinetic burst of energy when soldiers rushed in to engage one another; small blades were swung for much of the melee, but the aggressive clack of quarterstaffs made far more of an impact in the tiny studio theater.
Macbeth was played by a towering, suitably morose Sam Robinson. Anna Bisch was the very image of poised frustration in the role of Lady Macbeth. One of the most impressive performances in the margins of the ensemble was Alec Lachman as the comical drunken porter. Lachman has great comic instincts and they sparkled here for a few moments of poignant levity before the mood returned to the shadowy darkness in which much of the production rested.
UWM Theatre’s next production is The Royal Mexican Players Project: WTF?!?!, a new play with political themes written by Alvaro Saar Rios and directed by Michelle Lopez-Rios. For more information, visit psoacal.uwm.edu.
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