Long Wharf Theatre's MACBETH Plays 1/18-2/12

Long Wharf Theatre, under the direction of Artistic Director Gordon Edelstein and Managing Director Josh Borenstein, presents MACBETH [1969] from January 18 through February 12, 2012, on the C. Newton Schenck III Mainstage.

When two soldiers return home from a distant war, three nurses tend to their wounds both physical and psychological. As they deal with the aftermath of war, what emerges from the men¹s actions are the ghosts of bloody deeds done and horrors inflicted. Associate Artistic Director Eric Ting gives William Shakespeare’s tale a powerful and timely reworking.

Ting and Artistic Director Gordon Edelstein were interested in retelling the story of Macbeth through the artistic prism of two soldiers returning home from war. “We are in a world overcome by war, and the quest for power is as profoundly human as any other impulse,” Edelstein said. “The purpose of theatre is to find ways to make these plays feel new. We are giving the play to artists who are interpreting the piece anew. You’ll feel like you’ve never seen this play before. It will be a very visceral and visually thrilling experience.”

When Ting came upon an article in Smithsonian Magazine called the “The Shock of War,” about the diagnosis of shellshock in World War I, the motivation for this particular take on Shakespeare’s work began to crystallize. With tens of thousands of soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, Ting believed that there was an opportunity to use Shakespeare’s timeless story to explore the horrors of combat by focusing on the challenges two brothers-in-arms – Macbeth and Banquo – face as they recover from the war and endeavor to return to the lives they left for it.. “We chose to set it in 1969 in the midst of the Vietnam War because it gives us the historical distance through which we can explore how Shakespeare’s play speaks to the traumas of conflict; and because we felt there was a much closer kinship between the Vietnam War and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan (as opposed to say the first or second World Wars) in terms of the national zeitgeist surrounding them. ,” Ting said.

The cast is comprised of Shirine Babb, McKinley Belcher III, Jackie Chung, George Kulp, Barret O’Brien and Socorro Santiago. The creative team is Mimi Lien (sets), Toni-Leslie James (costumes), Tyler Micoleau (lights), Ryan Rumery (sound), David Anzuelo (fight direction), and Lisa Ann Chernoff (stage manager).

Bank of America is the production sponsor.

Tickets are $40 to $70 and can be purchased by calling 203-787-4282 or by visiting www.longwharf.org.

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