Shakespeare’s Macbeth is filled with so many events and characters that the original may be hard to follow, but Jimmy Moore and Michelle Krause’s condensed version does justice to the Bard. They take a three-hour play and highlight the most influential scenes to give the audience a look into the dark side of madness that takes root in the minds of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth.
In 90 minutes, you feel as though you’re being torn from one plot twist to the next as the environment shapeshifts in front of you in the thrust-style theatre of Theatre Downtown.
The cast does a good job with the time they have, keeping the play pumping with adrenaline and anguish as Shakespeare would have wanted it. The cast of 15 takes on multiple personas to flesh out the roles of more than twenty characters.
It must be difficult to throw on each individual guise at the flick of a switch, but as the lights come down and the tortured sounds of a violin begin to descend upon the stage, the entirety of Theatre Downtown becomes a small-scale insane asylum.
As one of the few tragedies featured at Fringe Festival this year, Macbeth stands out among the best. Get your button and head on over to the Gold venue before the last showing on May 26.
Have you seen Macbeth? Comment and let us know what you think!
