Something Wicked: Shakespeare's Macbeth Re-envisioned

In its first year, Transcendent Ensemble Theater Company has not shied away from ambitious projects. Their Halloween offering, "Something Wicked: Shakespeare's Macbeth Re-Envisioned," continues in that vein, presenting considerable challenges, ably met for the most part, in their new home space in Wicker Park.

The retitle and "adaptation" credit for director (and TETC founder) Lindsay Bartlette Allen might be overstatement. The role of Hecate and the three witches are expanded here, such that Lady Macbeth's line about having "given suck" unfurls its tendrils throughout the performance.

Two of the witches settle the audience into the space, offering programs and plastic gowns. (TETC's space is very small, and the performance, as promised, its bloody.) A third, in a gown and surgical mask of her own, attends to Lady Macbeth, who writhes on a bed, apparently in the throes of early labor. Wind howls through the space, as the witches stalk from end to end, scrawling sigils in chalk on the floor.

As the play proper, begins, the witches steal away with the child, and it's not quite clear if it's meant to be a willing sacrifice or a stillbirth that decides Lady Macbeth on the course she'll follow. The weird sisters are on stage for much of the play, thereafter, sometimes as apparently unseen forces, sometimes doubling as other characters. In the end, Lady Macbeth joins their circle.

The shift of emphasis doesn't work consistently. It's not always obvious when we're meant to interpret the actions of the witches as the supernatural intruding or simple pragmatic role doubling and Lady Macbeth's ultimate fate isn't particularly shocking or enlightening.

These criticisms made, though, the performances by the three actors (Jessica Walston Alldredge, Joshua Butler and Preston Smith) do knit scenes together effectively, helping to address some of the staging challenges. Furthermore, Bartlette Allen's interest in the loss of a child and its ramifications lay the groundwork for a single, powerful moment between Macbeth and his wife when he first returns to their home. Jason Kellerman and Jenifer Henry connect beautifully within it, and it imparts a sense of joint action to them that's too often missing.

TETC's storefront space only accommodates about thirty audience members in two rows against the walls on either side. The rest of the space is masked with squares of dark cloth that suggest battlefield tents (and provide for the necessary entrances), while the far end of the room becomes the private confines of Macbeth's bedroom. Behind the audience, the walls are sheeted with white, translucent plastic covered in black shapes that suggest Birnam Wood as much as a cavernous space covered in runes.

Wisely, though, other stage elements are minimized to open the space up for the action of the play, which features particularly impressive combat design by Kyle Encinas. Kendra Peine Weeks' costumes, which seem to focus on slightly modified thrift store coats and boots, likewise function well to establish and distinguish characters without trying to do more than the group has the budget for.

TETC's production is not really about the adaptation or the constraints of the space, though, it's about a strong cast. Jason Kellerman leads the way as Macbeth. He and Andrew McClelland (Banquo) spark off one another to inject a life-and-death urgency into their encounter with the witches that's mindful of the fact that they're both just coming off the highs of a battle.

This works well contrasted to the sedate, courtly, slightly out-of-touch tone that Orion Silvertree (Duncan) and John Van Ort (Malcolm) craft in subsequent scenes. Together, the choices keep the larger political backdrop of the play relevant without ever losing sight of the personal tragedies unfolding.

While this version works on the whole, though, there are times when the production feels somewhat raw. There are mechanically awkward bits that need some rethinking, like the murder of Lady Macduff and her child, as well as the practical staging of Macduff's ultimate defeat of Macbeth.

Thematically, Macbeth's "Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow" soliloquy feels more like a piece set on its own than something emerging from the action, and though Jenifer Henry is a more than capable actress, there are times when her performance seems to push at the boundaries of the space, suggesting the need for more communication between her and the director. But minor quibbles, aside, TETC offers not just a satisfying rendition of the tragedy, but one that's distinctly Chicago storefront.

"Something Wicked: Shakespeare's Macbeth Re-Envisioned" runs through Nov. 9 at Transcendent, 1434 N. Western Avenue, Chicago. For tickets or information, visit somethingwicked.brownpapertickets.com