Macbeth
For our Fight Director, we chose Richard Lane, founder
of the Academy of the Sword, who has directed fights
at Marin Shakespeare Company now for over a decade.
In fact, when Richard’s first book Swashbuckling,
a valuable primer on Stage Combat that has become
a standard teaching tool, was published, he included
photographs from this production.
This was also the first of many
productions with the vastly talented composer and
sound designer Bruce Gehrke, whose spooky “hell sounds”
added an appropriately eerie element to the production.
Set and Lighting Designer Jim McKie
created eerie supernatural effects for the show by
designing a castle of weathered wood, through which
colored lights could be thrown from the rear, while
various trap doors emitted smoke, lights, hell-sounds
and, of course, the three witches and their ghostly
apparitions. This was also the first of many shows
with costumes designed by Kim Curtis, who created
bold, strikingly-colored simple designs made of rough-hewn
materials that fit beautifully with the weathered
set.
When the crows and bats flew overhead as the light
thickened each evening, we knew we had truly entered
the world of Macbeth.
 From the Playbill:
Contrary to reputation, we have found that the “Scottish
Tragedy” has brought with it a wealth of good luck:
a nationally-recognized director, a talented and experienced
cast, and the return of set and lighting designer
Jim McKie who heads up a production team delighted
to conjure all the eerie special effects Macbeth allows….We are grateful to the outpouring of community
enthusiasm which has greeted the revival of Shakespeare
at Forest Meadows, and to the warm response generated
by last year’s premiere production, As You Like
It. We would like to thank everyone whose energy,
enthusiasm and generosity has sustained the Marin
Shakespeare Company and especially our major corporate
donors, Fireman’s Fund Foundation, Crystal Geyser
Water Company, and Calasia Restaurant, whose invaluable
support allows us to once again share with you the
poetry and magic of ‘Shakespeare Under the Stars.’
What the Critics Said:
“Enchanting Macbeth in Marin: There’s
nothing quite like watching Shakespeare under the
stars. And seeing the Marin Shakespeare Company’s
production of Macbeth at Forest Meadows
theatre is truly spellbinding.…a poetic and eerie
production that seems to take in the night. Thunder
and lighting, smoke and blood, excellent sword fighting,
and the sounds of birds at dawn are all brought
to Dominican College as if imported from Scotland
itself. The acting is exceptional. ACT’s Eric Zivot,
who plays the lead, performs Shakespeare as if he
were born to do it….Lise Bruneau…is at once beautifully
tragic and lustfully evil.”
Shawn Connally, Marin
Independent Journal
 “At
a running time of two hours with no intermission,
the Marin Shakespeare Festival’s Macbeth is a swift, propulsive account of the tragedy. Capably
played by the principals and directed by Patrick
Kelly with an eye and ear for the big impact, the
production fills the night air at Dominican College’s
Forest Meadows Theatre with a rough-hewn poetry.”
Steve Winn, San Francisco Chronicle
“Forest Meadows seems somehow the perfect site.
Director Patrick Kelly creates a compelling evening
of chills and thrills, thunder and lightening and
wild grandeur.”
- Novato Advance
“Bold, Unrepentant Macbeth Takes Forest
Meadows Stage….I enjoyed watching Macbeth at the Forest Meadows Theatre. The seats, softened
by cushions brought from home, are comfortable.
The acoustics without amplification are perfect.
Picnicking is fun.”
Bess Davoren, Tiburon
Ark
“The design team stars. Jim McKie has constructed
an impressive, towering wall-and-floor set whose
knotty planks conceal doors and trap doors where
witches and dead men rise magically in the mists
of smoke …[and] a murky, medieval light that perfectly
suits Shakespeare’s brooding psychological melodrama.”
Lee Brady, Pacific Sun
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