BUZZon.com - Upon the Heath

In that benighted bygone age dubbed the 1980s, this pale student of unhallowed arts (a.k.a. comic books) was branching out into more highfalutin leisure reading – like the school library’s little blue hardcover copy of Macbeth.

That book helped hatch a lifelong fascination with the Bard, and small wonder. Shakespeare’s shortest, bloodiest tragedy is a quick, endlessly quotable read chock full of mysticism, mayhem, vividly sketched characters and thought-provoking philosophy. It’s a perfect gateway drug for budding Bard buffs.

So ye olde reviewer was an easy mark when ACT announced its 2012 production of Macbeth, directed by company mainstay Terry Pratt and staged in an intriguing venue: Robert Cotton Park, just outside Charlottetown. The results are mixed, but mostly successful.

Ever-so-loosely based on 11th-Century history, Shakespeare's 17th Century script has heroic Scottish general MacBeth (Richard Haines) receive a prophecy from three witches (Kathleen Haines, Quinby Barrows & Sara McCarthy) that he will be king. He makes it come true by murdering King Duncan (David Bulger), aided and spurred on by his all-consumingly ambitious wife Lady MacBeth (Catherine MacDonald), but the new power couple’s reign soon descends into madness, tyranny and civil war.

Some key actors seem to languish in low gear early on, straining to find drama in the play's quieter early scenes -- notably Haines, Keir Malone as MacBeth's doomed comrade Banquo and Ben Hartley as Duncan's son Malcom.

Though solid in spots, Hartley sometimes lapses into too-swift recitation rather than fully inhabiting his lines, seldom fully escaping that trap. Haines and Malone, meanwhile, come alive in later scenes –ironically including Malone’s seething turn as Banquo’s vengeful ghost. Haines in particular gets better and better as the show progresses, reaching new levels of range, nuance and intensity over the course of his marathon role.

Strong from start to finish are MacDonald's alluringly chilling Lady MacBeth, Bulger's heartbreakingly benevolent Duncan, Adam Gauthier's formidable Thane Ross and the Haines/Barrows/McCarthy trio's darkly playful witches, plus stellar work by Justin Shaw and Ashley Clark in smaller roles as the Porter and Lady MacDuff, respectively.

The outdoor setting hugely enriches the show with unique atmosphere, spectacle and visual variety as the production roves through assorted park locales. Key figures in enabling and enhancing this staging concept are the Docents (Lucy Morkunas, Olivia Barnes & Emma Russel-Louder), a trio of sometimes singing, sometimes speaking and always belligerent guides herding the audience from scene to scene, a great concept wonderfully executed by the ladies in question.

Some actors are projection-challenged amidst the outdoor acoustics, the fight scenes aren't always convincing and the outdoor setting sometimes works against the material -- MacBeth isn't a play that thrives in sunshine, and the pre-sunset glare undercuts the otherwise dark opening scene in particular.

But as the drama rises and the sun sinks, the production gets satisfyingly darker on multiple levels. Pratt’s company conjures genuine thrills and chills amidst the wilds of Cotton Park, and the best moments of ACT’s Macbeth are bloody good fun.

Upon the Heath ←		Sisters of Mirth →

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