Shakespeare & Company Presents MACBETH Directed By Melia Bensussen

Shakespeare & Company presents William Shakespeare's Macbeth, directed by Obie Award-winning director Melia Bensussen. Company veterans Jonathan Croy and Tod Randolph take the helm as Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, two of Shakespeare's most notorious anti-heroes. Shakespeare's stunning classic of blind ambition and corrosive power runs from July 3 - August 5 in the Tina Packer Playhouse.

"When working on this play, I kept thinking of the dead man's heart beating beneath the floorboards," said Director Melia Bensussen. "Edgar Allan Poe's ghost stories are a big influence - his writing about hauntings, about the tricks our minds can play. The spirit of Poe's psychological terror wherein we see portrayed our own irrationalities, our own capacities for dark deeds, our own chaos as creators with great imaginations but sometimes without boundaries - that's the ghost story of Macbeth this summer."

Macbeth marks Melia Bensussen's directing debut at Shakespeare & Company. The cast features Shakespeare & Company veterans Gregory Boover (Young Siward), Thomas Brazzle (Macduff), Jonathan Croy (Macbeth), Nigel Gore (Duncan, Porter), Deaon Griffin-Pressley (Malcolm), Zöe Laiz (Hecate, Lady Macduff), Ella Loudon (Banquo), Tod Randolph (Lady Macbeth), and Mark Zeisler (Ross). The creative team includes Cristina Todesco (Set Design), Dan Kotlowitz (Lighting Design), Olivera Gajic (Costume Design), Brendan F. Doyle (Sound Design), Hope Rose Kelly (Stage Manager), Ariel Bock (Vocal Coach), and Ted Hewlett (Fight Director).

"We couldn't be more thrilled to have Melia Bensussen directing this classic for us here in the Berkshires," said Artistic Director Allyn Burrows. "She and I have collaborated on a number of projects elsewhere and I knew her keen sensibility, grasp of the material, and powerful point of view would be a welcome addition to our process this summer."

Additionally, Shakespeare & Company invites audiences to participate in a Conversation With the Artists on July 14th at 2pm. Join Artistic Director Allyn Burrows, and actors Jonathan Croy and Tod Randolph, for an enlightening discussion about the production's concept and the collaborative journey. Croy and Randolph will provide insight into their process for exploring and embodying these two complex characters. For tickets and more information visit shakespeare.org.

Tickets for Macbeth are available online at shakespeare.org, or by calling Shakespeare & Company's box office at (413) 637-3353. The Tina Packer Playhouse is air-conditioned and wheelchair accessible. Shakespeare & Company is located at 70 Kemble St. in Lenox, Massachusetts. Macbeth is generously sponsored by Deborah and Bill Ryan.

The Company's 2018 Summer Season also includes two other Shakespeare plays: As You Like It and Love's Labor's Lost; plus Morning After Grace by Carey Crim; Creditors by August Strindberg, adapted by David Greig; Heisenberg by Laurence Olivier Award winner Simon Stephens; Mothers and Sons by Tony Award-winning playwright Terrence McNally; and HIR by Pulitzer Prize finalist Taylor Mac.

Photo by Eloy Garcia

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