Juneau, Alaska: Birnam wood be come to Juneau.(Front and Center)(Perseverance Theatre's brings Macbeth to Juneau Douglas High School)

American Theatre, January, 2004 by Citron, Nicole

WHEN PERSEVERANCE THEATRE'S PAN-ALASKA NATIVE cast brings Macbeth to Juneau Douglas High School this month, the Scottish king won't preside over a banquet in Act 3, Scene 4--he'll play "humble host" at a potlatch. "Never shake thy gory locks at me," he'll cry at the sight of a dancer in a raven mask, which traditionally opens up to expose another mask, but here will reveal Banquo's ghost.

The traditions of the Tlingit--the second largest indigenous Alaskan population after the Eskimos--illuminate this take on Macbeth, directed by Perseverance Theatre associate artistic director Anita Maynard-Losh. "The plot and characters all come from Shakespeare's world," says Maynard-Losh. "But the values, symbolism and design all come from Tlingit culture." During her...

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