Play season has started here once again, and newly hired theater teacher Pearson Kunz has risen to face the challenge that is putting on a show starring high school students. Me and a few of my friends went to see Macbeth opening night and were thoroughly impressed at the quality of the show.
Obviously, the actors really carried the show. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth were played by Stellan Malstrom and Willow Patterson, and they both did fantastic in their roles. They both acted so much larger than life, especially during monologues, you could feel so much emotion and it really elevated the whole show. I really thought everyone was incredible, it’s hard to pick some standout star because I think one of the best parts of the cast was how cohesive they seemed in the performance. They all worked together and complemented each other very well.
I also really enjoyed the technical aspect of it all. This play had a lot of moving parts, and everyone worked together to make it look seamless. My friends and I particularly enjoyed a part in the show in which an animation was projected onto a screen to mimic the look of a spector speaking to Macbeth. There was a lot of lighting, music, and moving cues throughout the run time, and I think the people executing them did a great job.
One part of the show that fell flat for me was the adaptations made to the story. I think the idea of changing the setting to be an art gallery is interesting, but it didn’t really work for me. It lowered the stakes a lot to make Macbeth the “king” of an art gallery, rather than the king of an actual kingdom. It was just very confusing why he was killing people over a management position. Also the random inclusion of songs from Charli XCX’s album brat felt a bit out of place, but they added some comic relief that I enjoyed, so I didn’t mind it very much.
All in all, I think this play was very successful. The fights were choreographed well, the actors were good, the effects were cool–especially the blood, that was very awesome. I am very excited to see what else our new theater teacher has in store for us, as they’ve already proved themselves more than capable of directing an entertaining show.
