THE REAL LADY MACBETH – Actors Company (Let Live Theatre)
Reviewed by Amalisha HuEck
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
Shakespeare’s play, Macbeth, turned lady Macbeth into a murderous, conniving, greedy woman with masculine lust for power. The real Lady Macbeth is a play that removes this century-long curse that was placed on her, because, as it turns out, the historical Lady Macbeth was a very different queen, full of surprises, and more complex and far more interesting through its visionary storytelling.
Presented by Rosarium Films, cleverly written and produced by Coco Blignaut and Edison Park, and brilliantly directed by Sofia Streisand, born in Russia, who has directed operas and musicals across Europe and Asia, Lady Macbeth was delightfully filled with unexpected; outstanding performances, beautiful scenery, the true magic of the theatre, resourcefully original costumes, great lighting and clear sound. It seems I did not breathe throughout this highly theatrical production. The beautifully talented actors are Coco Blignaut, Savannah Schakett, Eve Sigall, Edison Park.
Fantasy and magic reveal the story of a beautiful queen who writes poetry, who got married to an old ogre that her father wanted her to marry. She cries to spirits in the forest, where behind her we see a delightful image of the light coming through the trees, which illuminates her. Macbeth comes and she marries him, for everyone’s protection in the kingdom. Then she falls deeply in love, and they have 17 years of beautiful marriage together, where there was peace, and love only. But the evil spirits do not sleep for long and the changes happen. Eventually, she lost everyone– her brother, her husband, her father.
There are so many beautiful images and strong scenes in this production. The scene when she gives birth to her son is so masterfully created, strongly acted and it is a scene I will always remember. At the end we have a chance to hear:
‘Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate: Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, And summer’s lease hath all too short a date; Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines, And often is his gold complexion dimm’d; And every fair from fair sometime declines, By chance or nature’s changing course untrimm’d; But thy eternal summer shall not fade, Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow’st; Nor shall death brag thou wander’st in his shade, When in eternal lines to time thou grow’st: So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.
The Real Lady Macbeth is running at Actors Company, Let Live Theatre, 916 N. Formosa Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90046. Performances are on Friday, June 12 at 7:00 p.m.; Sunday, June 14 at 1:30 p.m.; Thursday, June 18 at 5:00 p.m.; Sunday, June 21 at 10:30 a.m.; Thursday, June 25 at 6:30 p.m.; Friday, June 26 at 3:30 p.m.; and Sunday, June 28 at 1:30 p.m. The estimated show time is around 1 hour. Suggested for audiences ages 15 to Adult. The ticket price is $23, and online ticketing https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/projects/1406