As part of their 2003 Valley of the Sun Shakespeare Festival, Actors Renaissance Theatre is offering an intriguing adaptation of a popular Shakespeare tragedy by inventive director Anthony Runfola, Macbeth Remixed. Mr. Runfola has taken the tragedy from the damp Scottish moors and plopped it into the damp American northwest during the height of the grunge music movement, moving the villainous Thane from the head of a clan to the head of a band. I'm always a big supporter of revisionist Shakespeare, and the idea is clever, but between a lot of strenuous stretching of the heavily edited script to make this idea work and the inconsistent performances of his collected ensemble, this production never quite reaches nirvana.
In Mr. Runfola's re-imagined world , Macbeth is a mythical grunge rocker with an up-and-coming band, his wife is the spitting image of Courtney Love, Banquo is a fellow band member, the Weird Sisters are three groupies with impressive and fearsome connections, Duncan is a record executive, his heir apparent Malcolm is sneakily dressed like the future of rock in the form of a Justin Timberlake-type performer, Macduff is a powerful agent, and everyone else fits into the sphere of groupies, hangers-on, and roadies. It's an interesting take, but while he does come up with several wonderful ways of tying in the Bard's language, many more moments are stretched to near breaking. Other inconsistencies undercut the power, such as the indecision on the use and era of weaponry, many dialect issues, and shifting presentation styles.
It's obvious that Mr. Runfola is on target with his direction of Lady Macbeth (an intense and maniacal Jodi Gibson), and Banquo (a laidback Tom Leveen) and his intention for the use of the ever-present Weird Sisters (a strong Quetta Carpenter, a consistent Courtney Weir, and a consistently, annoyingly telegraphing Jennifer Watson). There are no drugs present in this grunge scene, but their influence is implied by Ms. Gibson's mood swings and intensity. The device of using the Weird Sisters to stand in for many of the smaller roles works based on the overall performance of the actress. Given the potential opportunities, he surprisingly doesn't create as many interesting stage pictures as you'd guess, and only inserts one very small musical moment, inexcusable for the setting. Also, the theme of this remix does not find support in many of the soliloquy situations; they quickly devolve into Elizabethan explanations of motive rather than lyrical self-observations appropriate for the setting.
With the overall success of Ms. Gibson's integral Lady comes the see-saw performance of Adam Jacobson as the Thane. Mr. Jacobson is a third of the triumvirate of local band "Steppchild," who have fittingly christened themselves the new kings of rock and roll and whose mission is to eradicate the current scourge of the music scene. I cannot speak of his work in rock, but as an actor, he has some moments of impressive success where he rises to the anger and angst of his character, and quieter moments that lack strong conviction of performance and come across weaker for it. With a guitarist in the ensemble, it seems a crime not to incorporate such a find. Mr. Leveen's Banquo is a low-energy presentation, which works most of the time and for the overall theme, but becomes specifically difficult to work with when the time comes for his dispatching. He just doesn't seem remotely threatening enough to even imply trouble for the newly crowned king.
The remaining ensemble has a couple of good solos and some B-side material. Joey Moore's Malcolm is a very good performance until his challenge of Macduff when plotting revolution in England. Mr. Moore rushes his dialogue and fails to present his initial argument and subsequent repentance. Kane Anderson's Macduff follows a similar trajectory, success until the same scene and his reaction to his family's treatment, which is equally rushed. Adam Scanniello's Duncan is barely a blip, lacking a strong choice of a full character for this small but important role.
As the scenic element of this show is all about costumes and lighting, the designers are a split. Generally, Ms. Carpenter's costumes are dead-on, with everything from the inclusion of just the right hints of clan-like plaid, the excellent choices for Lady M, and the wonderful and sly commentary of Malcolm's outfit. Andrew Hutchinson's lighting is not as successful. There is a hint of concert, though the remainder is filled with dead spots that somehow actors always find and in which they plant themselves. Mr. Moore's sound design is very good, and some of the music choices are quite insightful.
Mr. Runfola is always thinking, and for that I am grateful. It's inevitable that when you take as many risks as he does, some things are not going to take off with a bullet like others. This production does deserve more than being left in the remainder rack; it just isn't quite enough to make it to platinum.