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Cale Epps and Kaitlin O’Neal star in Southwest Shakespeare Company’s “Macbeth” at the Mesa Arts Center.

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Review: This 'Macbeth’ a sound tragedy (C-)

By Chris Page, Get Out

January 17, 2008

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A black stage frosted with fog, one gnarled tree looming as if this were “Waiting for Godot” in Hades: The set alone in Southwest Shakespeare Company’s “Macbeth” seems to say, “Something wicked this way comes.”

Alas, much of the rest of this production — veteran director Jared Sakren’s first stab at Shakespeare’s bloody tragedy, that famously murderous grab for the Scottish throne — fails to satisfy as much as Kimb Williamson’s murky-cool set design.

For one thing, the show often veers into the realm of the head-scratchingly literal. At the mention of blood (of which there is much in Sakren’s gothic-tinged staging) the background lights turn a sympathetic crimson. The first major monologue by Lady Macbeth (played by Kaitlin O’Neal) alludes to a raven, so the bird shows up in her costume — a sexy, feathery black frock, by Michael Waid — and home decor.

Even the mention of approaching horses earns an audio cue of clopping hooves, bringing to mind the coconut clacking of “Monty Python and the Holy Grail.”

The audio, in general, is a mess: sound and fury, signifying little worthwhile. A synthesized soundtrack by Richard Jennings intrudes upon and overwhelms dramatic scenes — in which the Bard’s language should have been music enough. Stage punches are accompanied by what sounds like someone clapping into a microphone. (Meanwhile, the microphones worn by a trio of mask-wearing witches distort horribly.) For as much swordplay on display, I found myself often shooting daggers in the general direction of the soundboard.

This “Macbeth” should have been a showcase for versatile Valley actor Cale Epps, though his and Sakren’s take on the title character, guided less by the usual ambition than by guilt and fear — a clever enough conceit — nevertheless results in a first act riddled with whiny monologues. (Epps’ second act, the crowned king paranoid to the point of breakdown, proves more compelling.)

Instead, the star of the show is New York native O’Neal — devil-dolled up in black, her lips painted the color of congealed blood, the Bride of Frankenstein meets Morticia Addams — whose Lady Macbeth, in the first act, is wretchedly resolute in her husband’s ascension to power. O’Neal relishes each monologue, and her commanding performance alone is worth the ticket.

Still, it says plenty that she, of the murderous duo, is the more menacing figure, holding a pair of bloody blades.

The end result is an ambitious production that’s tripped up by its slew of frustrations and silly flourishes. The less said about the witches’ second-act outfits — unitards by way of “Swamp Thing” — the better.

>> "Macbeth" runs 7:30 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays, 3 p.m. Jan. 20, 2 p.m. Jan. 26, closing Jan. 26, at Mesa Arts Center, 1 E. Main St. $12.50-$32. (480) 644-6500 or mesaartscenter.com Grade: C-

Contact Chris Page by email, or phone (480) 898-5656

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