Chicago Shakespeare Theater — Attraction in Chicago

The new Chicago Shakespeare Company production of Macbeth has an amazing directorial vision. The lighting, staging and theatrical effects are precise and extremely well-timed. Moreover, the music really gets under the skin effectively and accentuates the play’s theme. The musicians were first rate, especially the percussionists. The makeup was extremely innovative, and created a genuinely unique look for the Weird Sisters, giving them a spectral appearance, and an unsettling combination of bald heads and beards, to say nothing of the startling way they appeared and disappeared on stage. You can tell that the director is a magician, both literally and figuratively. Overall, the physical production of the play was superb.

What’s more, the costumes were generally exceptional, with the exception of one minor character, a doctor played by Christopher Donahue, who wore a pair of anachronistic glasses and a shirt and suit that seemed to come from a production of Harry Potter.

The acting, on the other hand, was a different story. The single most important character in any production of Macbeth, Lady Macbeth, was played by an actress, Chaon Cross, who was egregiously bad. Why? Because she didn’t truly understand the character she was playing and, accordingly, had no inner monologue. As a result, her acting was all on the surface and came across as if her only goal was to get through her lines without forgetting anything. She rushed through her lines using an inappropriately high voice that conveyed none of the emotion, manipulation or scheming that a true Lady Macbeth should display. Nor did she manage to communicate the ostensibly tender feelings she had for her husband that should allow the character to control and manipulate him. She should have come across as a powerful, controlling “puppet master,” but this crucial element of her character was utterly absent from her portrayal.

In the first scene, when she receives the letter from Macbeth, we don’t see her planning and scheming to convince Macbeth to commit murder. When Macbeth comes back home after battle, she, as Stanislavsky said, takes a “half step in acting” by pretending that she is going to sexually manipulate Macbeth, but does so half-heartedly. She has forgotten the principle that when you start a sexual scene, you have to consummate it.

As far as Macbeth himself is concerned, the actor portraying the role, Ian Merrill Peakes, did a merely workmanlike job. Much like Lady Macbeth, he seemed more focused on reading his lines than on portraying his inner turmoil. After he murders Duncan, he doesn’t seem distraught enough, and it isn’t very believable that he even committed a murder at all. There seemed to be no sense of consequence or anguish for either Macbeth or his wife. And, at the end, Lady Macbeth’s transition to insanity seems abrupt and unmotivated and arbitrary, rather than a convincing and frightening metamorphosis, as it should be.

Many of the minor characters were equally shallow. One of the rare exceptions was the alcoholic servant who described himself as a Hellhound, who created an incredibly creative and energetic character. It was clear that the actor really thought his character through, rehearsed thoroughly and acted, as well as improvised, impeccably. He demonstrated, in fact, how the acting should have been throughout the rest of the play.

In order for this production to be truly successful, the director must find a better actress to play Lady Macbeth. There are plenty of such actresses in Chicago — it is a mystery why he didn’t choose one. It is also a mystery why he allowed the actors to use a confusing jumble of Scottish and American accents. As it is, I can only give this production of the Scottish Play three stars...

❤️‼️🙏‼️❤️ The theater is modular and is reassembled in diverse configurations based on the needs of a play. Including: seating, balconies, stage, prop mechanicals … even the walkway and hall when entering the theater.

❤️‼️🙏‼️❤️. “Lord of the Rings” is my favorite play done here to date.

Fabulous audience Energy.

The cast was expressive, articulate, and representative of the characters they played. The characters acted, sang, danced with delight and moved me emotionally.

Without using any FX (expensive) they used traditional stage props and stage rendering to affect the situational intents. Climbing ladders instead of rock ledges and such. But the characters drew the landscape themselves through their performances. Mentally I naturally filled in the background of Middle-Earth.

The seating at the very front row is below the stage floor, so parts where actors performed laying down could not be seen. Moving those activities to the front of the stage may help in the future.

Also in the front row the lighting often was directed into my eyes and I would need to close my eyes until lighting was redirected a moment later.

But the very nice compensation is the direct proximity and interaction with activities and actors and becoming a part of the play.

The actors directly seemed to make eye contact, and props extend toward patrons in the front row to provide personal encounters in the play.

Some parts of the play had characters doing parts of the play throughout the audience. Providing most everyone with personal encounters if they are pulled into the story as I was.

Of special note to one of the actors: Gollum. Extraordinary articulate in voice, actions, expressions, and depiction of character.

But not to short cite the cast. Everyone was expressive, delightful, and engaging.

❤️‼️🙏...

Hey there! I wanted to list a view concerns about a production, but before I do I wanted to say. That I really like the fact that it is an all Shakespeare theater. The acting is amazing. I went today to a show, "The Taming Of The Shrew" and was very disappointed in this production. It was never communicated to to our school group that it was an all women cast. We are not at all sexist, but hey we came with expectations of a original production by Shakespeare. Also through the whole show it promoted transgender people, some people don't mind this but it was a auditorium full of young adults, not all families are ok with this matter. Not only was is promoting trans it also promoted homosexuals. Yes, your probably alright with that , but that was never communicated to anyone that we would be exposing young minds to this heavy matter. Families should be able to monitor these different views with their teens, and to be honest it wasn't an original. If I am going to a production and it is advertised as an original script then I am expecting to see what they advertised, like any other person would. So the fact that they never told us about these matters it upset me because it can really influence young minds including myself. I am a teen, who spectated this show and was not happy about it, and I am also speaking on behalf of my school group. I would like to go again, but to be told in detail what I am going to be watching and exposing my mind to. Just some concerns about this production. Please take this seriously because young minds are being...