MACBETH 

The Scottish Play. So cursed you can't even say its name in a theater. I decided to double down anyway.

 

Two years ago, I decided I wanted to direct Macbeth for the Stanford Shakespeare Company. But directing Macbeth for a repertory company like Shakes comes with a particular challenge: our seasons are built around balance. Every actor carries both a larger role and a smaller one, and so each production needs to be structured accordingly: a handful of substantial parts, a handful of smaller ones, with the load distributed as evenly as possible. A play built around one towering central role, with a line count that dwarfs everyone else's, doesn't fit that mold easily. So I asked myself: what if Macbeth didn't have to carry it alone?

 

What began as a practical solution quickly became something much larger. Splitting Macbeth across two actors isn't just structural. It is the argument this production makes. It lets us watch the externalized embodiment of corruption, giving us visceral insight into its effects. We can see the internal tension as a dialogue instead of a monologue. And we see more clearly the impact corruption has on those caught in its wake. 

 

The design vision for this production is steeped in Celtic folklore: the Morrigan, triple goddess of war; the Bean Nighe, washerwoman of the dead; the Banshee; the Fetch; the Wyrd. Fate, in all her forms. Our designers have gone above and beyond to conjure this world, and I am endlessly grateful for the care and craft they have brought to every corner of the stage.

 

This show has been a joy, from the laughter of the rehearsal room to the last-minute strokes of inspiration that only reveal themselves in tech week. It belongs to this company as much as it belongs to me.

 

I hope you enjoy it as much as we loved making it. What’s done is done.