MACBETH:  THE UNSEX ME HERE PROJECT

Manhattan Shakespeare Project
Access Theatre Gallery
380 Broadway, NY NY
April 1-5: Performances at 8:00pm

Conceived and Performed by Sarah Eismann and Amanda Boekelheide

According to the press release, MACBETH: The Unsex Me Here Project is a fast paced, high flying take on William Shakespeare’s “Scottish Play” where the gender of the actor’s playing the iconic characters of Macbeth, Lady Macbeth, Duncan, the Witches, etc., is up-in-the-air. Each night the audience will have the ability to decide the gender of each of the characters, thereby making conscience (sic) what is unconscious about gender constructs - one of Manhattan Shakespeare Project’s primary goals as a company.”

That sounds like an interesting and involving experiment; however, this production is not. Uncomfortably working around the audience, and sometimes giving out “nametags” of characters to audience members, but not really asking them to participate in any meaningful way, this production of Shakespeare’s Scottish Play is mainly performed by two actresses playing multiple roles. Confusingly, since the two women are the only ones onstage, sometimes roles are read by two actors sitting in the corner using scripts. The whole production felt like an extremely self indulgent project put together by the two conceiving actresses.

The idea of playing with gender for Shakespeare’s plays is not a bad idea. It was brilliantly done with the Donmar production of Julius Caesar. Manhattan Shakespeare’s production might work in a teaching environment, using students in some roles, but in this case, it does not work as a staged production, especially asking audiences to pay for it.

It should also be noted that the Access Theatre Gallery is a fourth-floor walkup, which means it is not handicap accessible.

- Jean Tait -