Macbeth

This past week was spring break at my wife's college. We used the opportunity to take a road trip to the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) which was presenting Macbeth, featuring Patrick Stewart in the title role, at their Harvey Theater. Seldom has three hours of my time passed so quickly; how wonderful is first-rate theater, how amazing is our Shakespeare.

It took only a few moments for me to forget Jean-Luc Picard. A dark and bloody story of evil was unfolding before me with Stewart transforming the commanding presence he displayed as the Captain of the Enterprise into that of a power-hungry Stalinesque murderer. As involving as was Stewart's stage presence - I could seldom move my eyes away from him - the production was his equal. And if some of his fellow cast members looked familiar, they should have. Many were veterans of British productions we had seen on TV - Midsomer Murders, Poirot, Miss Marple, and the like. Did I mention it was bloody? Tastefully bloody, but deeply crimson bloody. I liked it.

The production is now playing its third venue since opening in England last year. It will move to Broadway for short eight-week run at the end of this month. Critics have generally been quite taken by the production and by Stewart's performance. For example try the London Times, The Guardian, The New York Times, or The New Yorker. We saw a production that may be remembered for years.