MacBeth: Cauldron-Side Prophets

Georgetown University - Washington, DC
April 20, 2012



Brad: A
Chelsea: B

Long time no talk! Ha. Aww. Sad, but true.  As I am posting this review/summary nearly two months late, I should probably apologize to our handful of dedicated followers.  Rest assured, our journey continues, though with an upcoming wedding, our task promises to be that much more arduous.  I  am, however, determined to succeed or at least get married trying.

So, MacBeth!  Georgetown University's Mask and Bauble Dramatic Society produced this play.  Like the Skull and Bones Society at Yale, students in the Mask and Bauble Society are regularly linked to post-graduate, conspiracies for control of the world, though the M &  B focus on the world of Drama. Their most notable alumni, of course, is Tony, of the Tony Awards. That's not true at all.

Regardless, this was our first time to Georgetown University.  It is unsurprisingly beautiful.  Just before the play, we ate sandwiches on a bench, watched the craziness of admitted students weekend play out, and we debated whether we could still be mistaken for college kids.  Chelsea decided that, with the right corduroy jacket, I could be mistaken for a professor, though she was sure she could still fit right into a college dorm.


I digress.

MacBeth is a dark play.  All of the problems start when MacBeth and Banquo, faithful soldiers to King Duncan, hear three witches prophesy that MacBeth will get a new title and, eventually, become King.  The witches also guess that Banquo's children will inherit the kingdom, though Banquo will not.  In the very next scene the first prophecy comes true when King Duncan gives MacBeth the prophesied title.  MacBeth tells his wife everything, and she encourages him to take the Kingship.  MacBeth then kills King Duncan and becomes King.  The next morning MacDuff and MacBeth "discover" the King's body, and MacDuff is suspicious of MacBeth.

MacBeth, insecure in his title, decides he's gotta kill every threat to his power. And he does.  He has Banquo murdered.  MacDuff flees to England; MacBeth has everyone in MacDuff's castle killed.  Lady MacBeth, stricken with murderous guilt, kills herself.  And MacDuff returns to England with an army, fights MacBeth, and decapitates him.  In one of the final scenes, MacDuff returns to the stage with MacBeth's head in hand.

So, this production was good.  It was very dark. The witches were very interesting.  The three witches often echoed each other --- they repeated each other's words.  MacDuff was a really good actor for a college Junior.  My favorite part was the sound effects.  For example, the wind.  The wind sound effects was various stagehands hanging out in the rafters above the audience making wind noises.  No machines, no sound effects, just a few college kids imitating cappuccino machines.  Amazing. Unfortunately, it was more distracting than effective, but I appreciate the idea.

Overall, we enjoyed the play greatly.  Georgetown is less than a mile from Chelsea's apartment, so it was about time we went and saw campus.

Expect more posts in the next few days as we play blogger catch-up.  And that's a prophesy that will come true.

MacBrad