My Shakespeare season started early this year with my first trip to Berkeley Rep to see a fantastic production of Macbeth. This was my first trip to Berkeley Rep, and I was motivated by the fact that the play was starring Francis McDormand (from Fargo and Almost Perfect) and Conleth Hill (from Game of Thrones). It also included a couple of familiar faces from CalShakes, including James Carpenter. The acting was really outstanding. For better or worse, I was seated front row center, five feet from the stage, and I could really see the nuance of the acting. You know a play has got you when you catch yourself holding your breath.
The theater is not that large, and the stage fairly compact, but the staging was very effective. Some background image image effects were used with powerful results without being distracting. In one case only one character was at the front of the stage play-running towards the audience, with the background image being like a movie effect; with me being so close to the stage and him right in front of me, it was a very effective effect.
I used BART to go up there, and it was nice to visit downtown Berkeley again. I definitely am going to be following up with this theater company. Considering it’s the 400th birthday year for Shakespeare, this was a great way to start my season.
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