A Bard In The Bywater

The Skin Horse Theatre, known for its unique performances, has re-imaged Shakespeare’s Macbeth into a surreal vision of madness, murder and power.

https://www.cmtrading.com

The play opens with the entrance of the three witches played with maniacal glee by Ellery Burton, Pandora Gastelum and Monica Gilliam.  Eerily attired and with fixed stares in their eyes, they usher in the action and sit at the sidelines introducing the actors.

This works well, since the different male characters are all played by a trio of actors that wear the same outfits throughout the show.  Reasoning behind this may be because the focus of the play is on Macbeth and his murderous wife.  Dylan Hunter, traveling from center stage to the side to play the piano several times during his performance is brilliant in the role of the king gone mad.  His performance is physical, but no more than Veronica Hunsinger-Loe’s Lady Macbeth, who uses dance to bring this character’s murderous intents to life.  Each actor takes a divergent approach to their character, Dylan portraying Macbeth as less of a warrior rationalizing his actions, while Hunsinger throws creates a seductress.

With the exception of the witches, the remaining three characters act as live props for Macbeth and his Lady, coming in saying their lines and disappearing into the wings.  This version of Macbeth directed by Nat Kusinitz is pared down substantially focusing on the treachery of the characters and its outcome.   This leaves all the emphasis on our two main actors who give unbridled performances.

The play is staged at the Tigerman’s Den located at 3113 Royal Street.  The venue lends itself to a creepy atmosphere with the bare, wooden interior and makeshift lighting.  What does not work for this space is the fact that unless you are directly in the center, you miss a lot of the action on stage.  The characters frequently speak with their back to the audience and many scenes take place near the wings, so if you are on the sides of the audience your view is obstructed.  They do shift the seating around at intermission which makes it better, but you do a disservice to both the theatre goers and the actors if they are not allowed to see everything at all times.

Macbeth plays through February 18, 2014.  For tickets or information, go to www.skinhorsetheatre.org .

• About
• Latest Posts

Tony Leggio

Tony Leggio is a born and raised New Orleanian. He has over 20 years of event management experience having produced over 5,000 events locally and nationally. Tony has received numerous awards for his outstanding achievements in the hospitality industry. Besides his professional career, Anthony has played an active role in the community.He has served Event Chair of Art Against AIDS for the No/Aids Task Force for the past ten years and was honored as Humanitarian of the Year in 2010 by the organization. He is also a freelance writer who has written for USA Today, as well as several local publications.He also writes a column regularly In Ambush Magazine, plus is part of Gambit’s Big Easy Theatre Committee.Tony is a social butterfly of New Orleans that not only knows how to put on a great event but also knows how to enjoy one.

Latest posts by Tony Leggio (see all)

• Festively Gay Things to Do April 9 – 15, 2018 - April 8, 2018