Sara Clark and Nick Rose - Photo by Jeana Vella
Sara Clark’s striking performance as the conniving Lady Macbeth is engrossing and brimming with evil ambition at the start. A knockout in sequins and red lipstick, her sway over her waffling husband is easy to understand. Nick Rose brings an unexpected everyman quality to Macbeth. You see good in his face and hear it in his voice, but his kindness doesn’t stand a chance again his seductive wife. These two actors are married, and onstage together they have real chemistry. Her progression from a bloodthirsty murderess to an unhinged maniac is well paced and particularly heartbreaking. For much of the play Brent Vimtrup’s Macduff is a reservoir of restraint in the chaos. He ultimately boils over after Macbeth murders his family.
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The unearthly chanting of witches Miranda McGee, Kelly Mengelkoch and Jolin Polasek has hypnotic moments, but their costumes were distracting. In belted purple dresses and choreographed movement, they look like a Banana Republic ad or a really odd girl group. Later, Banquo (Ian Bond) and his son Fleance (Demecos Hill) run across the stage from a gang of murderers in slow motion; what should be a painful moment feels almost silly.
Macbeth is a violent play, dark,
twisted, tragic, without redemption in the end. There is no
all-consuming love story or noble, articulate hero. It’s a horror story,
loaded with witchcraft, war, ghosts, murder, insanity and plenty of
blood.
MACBETH, presented by Cincinnati Shakespeare Company, continues through Nov. 20. Buy tickets, check out performance times and get venue details here.
