And shalt be what thou art promised

On Friday night I saw Macbeth at the Folger Theatre. After the show, I was trying to remember how long it's been since I've seen Shakespeare performed; in digging around, it looks like it's been about 5 years, since I saw As You Like It at the Kennedy Center. And while I obviously knew the story, I was glad that I had taken the time to reread the play before I went. It's nice not having to try and process the language while taking in the show.

And it's definitely an enjoyable production. It was most definitely creepy; the atmosphere was perfect (particularly at the Folger, which is teensy-tiny). The production was co-directed by Teller (as in, "Penn and") and there were some cool magic effects, but nothing that took away from the production.

I loved the interaction between Macbeth and his Lady; it was all raw energy and sex. Ian Merrill Peakes as Macbeth was captivating; I actually liked Macbeth, though I'm not sure I'm supposed to. (He was kind of cute, too, with great arms. He reminded me a bit of Simon Pegg, from Shaun of the Dead--check out a picture here.) (Sadly, you don't see his arms in that, but there's a lot of sleeveless shirts, and kilts!, in the play.) At the end he was clearly insane, which is always fun to watch.

And there was a lot more comedy in it than I expected. There's a scene with the porter that Shakespeare clearly threw in as comic relief, but the actors also read a number of lines for a comedic effect. And it was needed; a show like that leaves you tense a lot of the time, and laughter is always a good way to release some of that energy.

I wasn't a fan of Macduff. I may have been colored by reading an interpretation that evening of how Macduff sucks for leaving his family behind. Or it may be that Cody Nickell, who played him, had wild hair and crazy eyes and was really intense and stared in my direction during a soliloquy that totally freaked me out, so I had to stare at Malcolm (Scott Kerns), who was cute and not at all scary. Because Macduff totally reminded me of Charles Manson, and I can't cope with that. Much less root for him to kill Macbeth, who came across as eminently likable, except for that whole "killing lots of people" thing.

The weird sisters were dealt with well, I think; I feel like it's such a fine line there between being scary and being comical, and they came across most definitely as scary. Though the masks did impede the line reading a bit; you could tell that at least one of them was wearing a mask.

I'd also say something about a couple of the young actors being a bit hard to hear, much less understand, except that a) they're young, and b) no microphones = awesome.

I will also take this moment to admit that because I've seen the Reduced Shakespeare Company's Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) so many times, when I think of Macbeth, I usually picture this.