Theater review: Woman's Will's no-frills 'Macbeth' packs the thrills

0 Comments | Oakland Tribune, Oct 17, 2008 | by Pat Craig

All it takes to make a powerful theatrical connection is, well, magic.

It doesn't come down to lavish sets and costumes, picture- perfect casting or a state-of-the-art theater equipment -- passion, vision and a remarkable focus on how a story should be told are much more important, a point made solidly by Oakland's all-female theater company Women's Will in its current production of Shakespeare's "Macbeth."

Working in a vacant Jack London Square storefront, courtesy of the Port of Oakland, director Joan Scout and artistic director Erin Merritt, who adapted the script for a five-woman cast, staged a remarkably evocative and emotionally satisfying production of "The Scottish Play."

Aside from the Macbeth (Valerie Weak) and Malcolm (Desiray McFall) characters, the remainder of the roles are played by the three other performers using the conceit that all of the other characters emerge from the three witches (Julia Mitchell, Leontyne Mbele-Mbong and Treacy Corrigan).

This would be remarkable enough if the company had been performing in an actual theater, but where they made the magic was a place with four walls, a floor and very little in the way of theatrical trappings. The piece is lighted with two stage lights and a makeshift group of footlights, the set is a large vertical rectangle, which serves as a frame for shadow puppetry, video and computer projections. (The production later moves to Rossmoor and San Francisco's Exit Theatre).

The technical magic is created by a tech who sits on two cushions in the middle of the front row, operating light switches, a computer and a projector. Onstage effects are performed by the actors standing in front of a light behind a rectangle and casting undulating shadows on the screen.

It is all remarkably effective and quickly entices the audience into the story. You soon forget the sparse surroundings and drift off into the world of Macbeth and the words of Shakespeare.

Cast members are clad in identical white shirts and black trousers, and the only accessories are a few swords, an armor vest for Macbeth and red string to simulate blood when Macbeth murders the old king to assume the throne.

And does it work? Only like gangbusters. There is a real magic between Weak and Mbele-Mbong, who plays Lady Macbeth; and when things turn violent, particularly at the end when the fighting becomes almost vicious, it produces an enormous visceral reaction from the audience.

There are also a number of remarkable visual effects created by clever use of video and computer projections, proving creativity trumps big bucks almost every time.

Reach Pat Craig at pcraig@bayareanewsgroup.com. Theater Review-- WHAT: Women's Will production of "Macbeth," by William Shakespeare-- WHERE: The Retail Theater Space, Jack London Square, 95 Washington St., Oakland-- WHEN: 8 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays through Oct. 26; 8 p.m. Oct. 29, Rossmoor Gateway Clubhouse, Walnut Creek; 8 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays Oct. 31-Nov. 8, Exit Theatre, 156 Eddy St., S.F..-- TICKETS: $15-$25, www.brownpapertickets.com, 510-420-0813