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Macbeth

April 8th - 30th at Barter's Smith Theatre

Director's Note

When I was a student in my college theatre department, my speech professor told me that I needed to tone down my Southern accent. If I wanted to be seen as a professional actress, I was going to have to learn how to lose my native dialect. I struggled with this concept. I thought about my family. Would they disapprove? I worried that if I lost my accent I would lose a part of myself. If I chased my dream in a city like New York or Chicago, would anyone know who I really was if I didn’t sound like me?

If I have the ambition to be something greater than I am, do I have to lose part of who I was? Or can I carry it with me?

In Macbeth’s world, the main characters must consider what part of themselves they are willing to discard in order to rise to power. Macbeth grapples with his ambition and identity and ultimately chooses to betray his king, his country, his friends. Malcolm becomes king because he remains true to himself and his country.

And Lady Macbeth. She doesn’t wait or wonder. She calls on spirits to change her nature. Strip away her softer qualities so she can seize the opportunity to rise above herself. It makes you wonder what else she has been willing to discard for the sake of ambition?

“… I have given suck, and know / How tender ‘tis to love the babe that milks me. / I would, while it was smiling in my face, / Have plucked my nipple from his boneless gums / And dashed the brains out, had I so sworn as you / Have done to this.”

The Macbeths have no heirs in this play - so where is the child that Lady Macbeth references? Is she speaking metaphorically, or has she, in fact, given birth? Did she get rid of her child or children in order to be with Macbeth?

The characters in this play wrestle with the fates of kingdoms and succession. But even in our rather ordinary lives, there are times when we have to choose between being truthful to ourselves and changing who we are to reach a higher ambition.

We can only answer these questions for ourselves: What are we capable of? What are we willing to lose? To what ends will we go?

- Carrie Smith Lewis, Director