UT Stages Shakespeare's Macbeth - April 17-19, & 22-26
The University of Toledo Department of Theatre and Film will perform Shakespeare’s Macbeth Friday, April 17 through Sunday, April 19, and Wednesday April 22 through Sunday, April 26. Performances on Wednesday-Saturday are at 7:30 p.m. Sunday performances are at 2 p.m.
Macbeth is considered one of Shakespeare's "four great tragedies," along with Hamlet, Othello and King Lear. It explores the protagonist's deep transformation from courage and valor to treachery and greed, caused by what Macbeth calls "vaulting ambition," ingrained in all of human nature. The play's director, UT assistant theatre professor and head of acting for the department Cornel Gabara, says that "in Shakespeare's plays, the main characters are never victims of external factors, but instead, their transformation is a result of their own actions and choices. They bring their downfall upon themselves through their own inability to resist the temptations of all the negative aspects of human nature, which in Macbeth's case is greed and desire for power."
Patrons who come to the play expecting to see an Elizabethan set may be hard-pressed to determine in which period the play is taking place. Gabara says that was a deliberate decision because the message of the play is timeless. “This play has been done in numerous ways and it works because it deals with human nature, which is the same regardless of time or space.”
The costumes in the play also transcend time and space, and are designed more as extensions of the characters who wear them rather than the time in which they live. The costume designer, Orene Colcord says, “I was thinking about designs for the characters around the same time I came across something about Toledo’s Black Swamp history. I just saw a connection between the characters and certain swamp creatures, and I drew my inspiration from that.”
Gabara adds that, unlike some other productions, he has not deleted entire scenes or moved them around. With the exception of a few lines here and there, he has kept the play's script virtually intact. He says, "The rehearsal process started with a fairly long period of table work, which allowed us to work word by word, sentence by sentence and meaning by meaning in order to give the students the opportunity to really understand Shakespeare's figures of speech and the structure of his verse. The acting of Shakespeare's text requires a rigorous effort to be able to make Shakespeare's language accessible to the audience."
About Cornel Gabara
Cornel Gabara began his career in 1988 at the National Theatre of Bucharest, where among others he performed in Andrei Serban’s Fragments of a Greek Trilogy as well as performing the lead role in the remount of Robert Wilson’s Hamletmachine. He toured to major festivals including Edinborough, Paris, Lisbon and Sao Paolo. He came to Canada in 1993, where an interest in teaching persuaded him to pursue higher education.
He received his BFA from Concordia University in Montreal and his MFA in Acting from Columbia University in New York. His New York credits include “Eurystheus” in Peter Sellar’s Children of Herakles, which toured throughout Europe, and “Pantalone” in Andrei Serban’s Benvenuto Cellini at the New York Metropolitan Opera. He also performed in Robert Woodruff’s Goddard: Distant and Right, in Nanterre (France), at La Mama ETC in Andrei Serban’s Richard III, Nikolaus Wolcz’s Turandot, and East River Commedia’s Striptease/Out at Sea.
In addition to teaching he is also the Artistic Director and a founding member of the Glacity Theatre Collective in Toledo, Ohio. With this professional company, he has directed Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Breathing Corpses, Eurydice, Problem Child and Criminal Genius.
Cast:
“Macbeth” Ernest Green
“Lady Macbeth” Betsy Yeary
“Duncan” Gordon James
“Malcolm” Marshall Kupresanin
“Donalbain” Kari Thomas
“Banquo” Uche Elueze
“Macduff” Brad Arner
“Lady Macduff” Halina LaRiccia
“Fleance/Caithness” Nathaniel Walker
“Macduff Child” Chelssea Cutino
“Ross” Brett Bowling
“Lennox” Jason Santel
“Angus” Daniel Partin
“Hecate” Elif Erturk
“First Watch” Margarert Lute
“Second Watch” Terri Mims
“Third Watch” Jessica Kight
“Seyton/Third Murderer/Messenger” Kenneth Sadlowski
“First Murderer” Pat Miller
“Second Murderer” Elizabeth Beaudrie
“Porter/Doctor/Attendant” Ryan Dressel
“Genetlewoman/Attendant” Dora Manu
“Menteith/Captain” Phillipe Taylor
“Siward” Scott Sheridan
“Young Siward” Joanne Wurm
Tickets are $13 for general admission, $11 for faculty, staff, alumni and seniors, and $9 for students. There will also be an Elizabethan-style banquet dinner, which includes tickets to the show on Saturday, April 18. Tickets are $40 per person, $35 per person if more than one ticket is purchased. Dinner patrons will be transported from the Center for Performing Arts to the Ingman Room in the Student Union for dinner, including beverage and dessert. A cash bar will be available. Collegium Musicum will perform period music during dinner. Collegium Musicum is a group of student musicians led by Dr. Alice Petersen, who specialize in performing ancient forms of music on period instruments. After dinner, patrons will be returned to the theatre where they will be given first choice of seats for the show.
Patrons who want only to attend the April 18 performance and not the dinner are not required to buy a dinner and a show ticket. Regular tickets are also available. The dinner and show event is available only on Saturday, April 18.
Tickets to Macbeth or the Dinner and a Show event can be purchased online any time at www.utoledo.edu/BoxOffice, by calling 419.530.2375 or by visiting the theatre box office in the UT Center for Performing Arts, Monday-Friday from 3-5 p.m.
Press Release Contact Name: Angela Riddel
Press Release Contact Email: [email protected]
Press Release Contact Phone: 419-530-2375
Organization Name: University of Toledo
Website or Link: www.utoledo.edu/as/theatrefilm
Organization Address: 2801 W. Bancroft St., Toledo, OH, 43606