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Since 2002, Nevada Shakespeare Company has been a scaled-down model of its former self, concentrating on educational outreach programs and small productions requiring only a handful of actors. That changed Friday when the company trotted out its first full-blown stage show in seven years, a touring production of William Shakespeare's "Macbeth."
"We brought in this very famous stage combat choreographer," said director David Weinberg. "He's world-renowned ... and just the set design, costume design, lighting design, all the different design elements are on a scale that is must larger than the recent history of the company."
The production features a cast of 14, including company manager and education director Joe Atack in the title role. The show opened in Dayton on Oct. 16 and will play in Virginia City on Oct. 23. The show will then settle into a longer run Oct. 24, 29, 30 and 31 at Laxalt Auditorium in Reno. All showings are free, and the proximity to Halloween is no coincidence.
"The play is really a nightmare," Weinberg said. "I've asked the cast to think of it in terms of a 17th century version of a really good horror movie. It's really like the best horror movie in all of history. It's a Halloween play."
Weinberg said he has emphasized the darker elements of the story, which tells of the Scottish nobleman Macbeth's transformation from a virtuous soldier to a power-hungry, murderous king. The show is littered with supernatural references, including the recurring appearance of a trio of witches, and both Macbeth and his conniving wife, Lady Macbeth (played by Stephanie Smith), rank among the Bard's most famous characters.
Weinberg said he hopes the Halloween-friendly plotting will convince people who might otherwise avoid Shakespeare to give it a shot.
"It's a little bit like a cross between 'Braveheart' and 'The Shining,'" he said. "We've tried to make it family friendly, so we have magic tricks, live magic, music and elaborate stage combat choreography, which will be fun for kids. ... Part of our job is really to make it accessible to people and enjoyable and entertaining. I think we've done a pretty good job of that."
Although Shakespeare's Macbeth is based on an actual person, the play is largely fictionalized. Still, Weinberg set the show in Scotland between 1040 and 1057, when the actual Macbeth reigned.
Because Shakespeare's Macbeth is such a well-known and tragic character, the role is a favorite among actors. Atack said this is his first time portraying the man, and his main goal is to paint him as a real person.
"We're trying to make Lord and Lady Macbeth as human as possible because a lot of the time they're kind of played as really stock villains," he said. "Stephanie and I are really trying to get to the kind of humanity of them. ... One of the most interesting things I came across is the idea that Macbeth, he's not particularly bright. He's very linear and very surface, and I think that comes from the world he lives in. You know, Lady Macbeth has a lot more depth to her in terms of the way she interprets the world around her, but Macbeth is much more straightforward."
The funding for "Macbeth" came from a variety of sources, including Nevada Humanities and the Nevada Arts Council, and one of the agreements with funders was that Nevada Shakespeare would tour the show to rural areas, thus the performances in Dayton and Winnemucca. Taking a show on the road does, however, require special planning.
"I've based it on this company in Britain that was started in 1968 called the Portable Theatre," Weinberg said. "The Portable Theatre was intended to create these traveling, touring productions ... So, they developed techniques, in terms of the design elements, to simplify things. ... We don't need elaborate sets and a lot of spectacle. We've simplified the design elements to make it highly portable, so that, essentially, we can go into any space and set up in two or three hours and do the show. And it can easily be revived as well."
