Shakespeare's Macbeth at McCarter Theatre Center

Bloody. Violent. Drenched in Pink.In this re-imagined production of one of Shakespeares most spellbinding plays, women and non-binary actors are at the center. While Macbeth grapples with many themes and issues, from the supernatural, to violence, to power, to guilt, all at full-force and intensity, the question of gender is typically brushed aside in productions. The play, though, is deeply interested in the way in which the traditional gender binary is established and maintained; the characters must be either a man or a woman. Agency lays unequivocally with the masculine, with kings like Duncan and eventually Macbeth, while women like Lady Macbeth must exercise her power through the men or shed her femininity and aim towards masculinity in order to succeed. Characters that seem to fall outside of this binary, the witches who are described as bearded women by Banquo, are othered and isolated in the label of Weird Sister. How, then, can a production of this master work grapple with the questions of gender identity in a modern understanding of the spectrum? Helmed by director and Lecturer in Theater Elena Araoz and an entirely female-presenting and non-binary cast, this production explores the manifestations of gender and power that are already present and all-encompassing in the original text. Featuring seniors Tessa Albertson 20 and Abby Spare 20, with set design by Milan Eldridge 20.