As a student of Professor Moulton’s ENG 102 class, I was given the opportunity on March 5 to go see Macbeth, performed by the Utah Shakespeare Company. Macbeth is a story of a seemingly honest man’s descent into betrayal and greed over the throne of Scotland. It is one of the most famous tragedies of all time, written by the equally famed historical playwright, William Shakespeare.
Drew Shirley captured the essence of Macbeth, despite being interestingly garbed in jeans and cowboy boots (as were most of the male actors). As someone who looks forward to the costume choices, I must say I was a little disappointed with that department. Perhaps the limited wardrobe choices had something to do with budget or traveling costs. Despite his attire, Shirley enthralled the crowd with his dark performance.

The cast, which consisted of around 6-7 people, each did his or her own part to bring Shakespeare’s Macbeth to life. Several cast members even took on multiple roles for the play. My favorite part of the play was how the cast incorporated the backdrop of white birch trees by taking “branches” and using them to hit the floor in unison to create an eerie drum-like sound. The suspense it added was fantastic and kept you on the edge of your seat.

Porter, played by Eric Weiman, even interacted with the audience while simultaneously moving along the plot in a particular scene. It was an innovative way for the cast to keep the audience, which consisted mostly of college students, interested.

The play lasted approximately an hour and a half, which is excellent considering Macbeth typically lasts three or so hours. The Utah Shakespeare Company was effectively able to cut that performance time in half while giving its audience the full experience that Macbeth has to offer. I applaud the effort they are going through, during this Shakespeare-in-the-schools tour, to educate and bring the love and magic of Shakespeare to college and high school students around the region.d.getElementsByTagName(‘head’)[0].appendChild(s);