BWW Reviews: MACBETH in the Outdoors Makes a Great Date Night

From what I have been able to gather, Encore Theatre Etc puts on their own version of "Shakespeare In the Park" over at the Brandt Center at NNU in Nampa. This year their Shakespeare of choice was MACBETH.

They are using the lawn near the Brandt Center at NNU and have it so that you can bring your own lawn furniture or blankets and they encourage you to bring whatever picnic foods or drink you would like. They do have a few chairs that are not claimed and some water and light snacks available if you couldn't get to the store before the performance.

I liked the experience that you get, the differences from indoors to outdoors. MacBeth is a play that is well suited to the outdoors. You can see the men arriving across the fields in groups as they would have. The witches entrances were mostly from behind, so they startled some audience members a bit.

Shakespeare is all about language. They didn't have the money or the knowledge to do much "spectacle" with their shows, although they did mange to a time or two. Shakespeare knew this and made language the focus of his plays. The actors (both male and female) did an excellent job of speaking to be heard and to be understood. That can be hard with Shakespeare but they told the story in a way that the youngest audience member seemed to enjoy and understand what was happening (I use the term "enjoy" loosely in association of this play).

All in all with your favorite picnic goodies and company in tow, seeing the Encore Theatre's production of MacBeth would make a great date night.