'Macbeth' opens next weekend at River Campus

Something wicked this way comes.

The Southeast Missouri State University Department of Theatre and Dance's production of William Shakespeare's "Macbeth" opens next weekend in the Rust Flex Theatre at Southeast's River Campus.

In the Bard of Avon's shortest and arguably his darkest piece, a Scottish general and his wife are driven by ambition to regicide and madness before being broken on the wheel of fate.

Universally heralded as a haunting masterpiece, "Macbeth" has a reputation for being shrouded in superstition, especially in the theater community. Which means it's perfect for Halloween.

Maria Drury plays Hecate, embodiment of the supernatural and leader of "the wierd sisters" that tempt Macbeth to utter ruin. She said that in the production, the night itself becomes a sort of spectral character in its own right; a dark enabler and inescapable tormentor.

"[Macbeth] is so mysterious," she said. "There's a certain mystic power to it, and we're doing everything we can to amplify that."

Director Bart Williams pointed out that the role of Hecate is usually cut, but he chose to include it in this production to heighten the show's sense of otherworldly intrigue.

"I wanted to put her in this [production]. We're not calling them witches, they're referred to as 'wierd sisters" and each one [in our show] has a wind; north, south etc.," he explains. "We're tying it into the natural/supernatural aspect."

Drury said one of her favorite parts about playing Hecate is the way it enables her to engage with the audience members.

"[Hecate] is a part of [the audience's] world just as much as she is a part of the actors' onstage," she said.

This audience/player intimacy is heightened by the arrangement in the relatively smaller flexible theatre. The stage is designed to have audience members on three sides, with a pentagonal platform in the center. Williams explained that this setting is particularly appropriate for a Shakespearean show, as Shakespeare's own company at the Globe Theatre in London favored the three-quarter-thrust as well.

"That's how Shakespeare wrote it," he said. "They had two levels and didn't have any spotlights or anything as they're exiting the stage. So we tried to do something similar. Blackouts kill Shakespeare."

Despite the show's abysmal darkness, Williams explained that the show is appropriate for a wide audience, likening it to a PG-13 movie. He said it's essentially a ghost story, and that the drama comes not from gore or obscenity, but rather from Shakespeare's chilling commentary on us as humans.

"It's about a husband and wife that make all the wrong choices and it all goes to hell," he said. "Literally."

The show runs October 30 to November 1 and November 6 to November 8 at 7:30 p.m. and November 9 at 2 p.m. Tickets are $16 and are available at the River Campus website.

tgraef@semissourian.com