Access Atlanta > Arts > Our Reviews > Archives > 2005 > May > 06 > Entry
Shake at the Lake: For the bloodthirsty
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
THEATER REVIEW: “Macbeth.” Shake at the Lake at Piedmont Park. Through Sunday, May 8.
Shake at the Lake patrons taking their last precious bites of chicken salad and sipping red wine from plastic goblets must have had quite a start as Georgia Shakespeare’s “Macbeth” got under way at Piedmont Park Wednesday night.
Just seconds into the Weird Sisters’ first gory rampage, one witch rips an organ from a victim, and then —- oh no, she’s not really going to do that while we dip into the salsa, is she? Indeed, the hideous creature squeezes her victim’s still-beating heart until the blood drips into the mouth of an unconscious sergeant, who then stands up and foams at the mouth.
G-ross.
Pack up the pimento cheese. “Macbeth” hath murther’d hunger.
But judging from the opening-night crowd, Georgia Shakespeare’s second gig at Piedmont Park has whet the city’s appetite for free, alfresco theater. About 700 turned out to watch the Thane of Cawdor’s demise as the sun went down on a cool spring evening.
Director Drew Fracher’s invasion- of-the-Goths “Macbeth,” with its Marilyn Manson-style man-skirts, hairstyles and tattoos, may not be for purists, but it’s so over the top that it’s downright campy fun.
How can anyone complain when the night air is right for cuddling, the magnolia-bowered amphitheatre beside Lake Clara Meer is framed by a fading ice-blue sky, and the words of our greatest poet are dancing across the ether?
Mirrored in the water, Kat Conley’s architectural set —- a gray matrix of geometric nooks and crannies that recalls a sci-fi castle —- sprouts from the park like a surprise visual arts installation. (It’s worth a look-see this weekend even if you can’t make the show.)
Arriving at 6 a.m. with coffee and a pillow, Midtown resident Victor Tamayo was first in line for tickets. By the 9 p.m. intermission, he was still standing —- and tickled by the performance. “It’s amazing that they are doing things like this in the park,” said Tamayo, a waiter at a downtown restaurant. “It’s beautiful, and the setting is gorgeous.” Producing artistic director Richard Garner chased Tamayo down and gave him a lime-green Georgia Shakes T-shirt.
Suzanne Wakefield rode her bike to the park from her Virginia-Highland home twice on Wednesday. First to pick up tickets around 11 a.m. Then back in the evening to relax with her husband, Michael Shapiro, over a homemade spread of grilled veggies, chicken salad, wine and a brief candle. The couple —- he’s a computer specialist and she’s a housewife planning to go to law school —- said they hadn’t seen a play by this 20-year-old ensemble since its early days in a tent at Oglethorpe University.
But the witches put a spell on them.
“I’ll definitely come back to this [next year],” said Wakefield, who also plans to check out a regular show during the theater’s summer repertory season at Oglethorpe’s Conant Performing Arts Center.
Poncey-Highlands resident Eric Deren snapped a photo of the onstage blood bath with his cellphone and sent it to an acquaintance in Tennessee. Then he popped open a can of Red Bull and sprawled out with a group of 10 friends to enjoy their picnic.
“This venue is fantastic,” said Deren, a special-effects artist for a local film production company, after the show. “The marriage of the setting, the weather and the acting was perfect.”
Witches’ brews aside, several patrons were heard complaining about the lack of alcohol at the concession stand. Only water is sold, so if you want to imbibe, you must bring it yourself. As for seating, there are about 350 folding chairs arranged in the amphitheater’s concrete shell, and patrons are welcome to put blankets on the grass and cozy up to the stage.
You’ll want to pay attention to Chris Kayser’s hysterical turn as the Porter, who wears a diaperlike thing and confuses his trousers for a shirt. As the First Witch, Rachel Craw scratches her butt on the scenery and moves about in the most peculiarly rigid way: Her jaws operate as if on rusty hinges. She’s pale, lugubrious, morbid of voice and a dead ringer for Dame Edith Sitwell. Maria Parra, as the Second Witch, completely transforms herself into a macabre creature with webbed wings and a feral scream.
The problem with this “Macbeth” is that it’s so done-up with design that the magic of the language gets lost in the fuss (and the scratchy amplification). Macduff (Brik Berkes) is almost incomprehensible at first. Joanna Mitchell is out of her depth as the complex Lady M. And Daniel May fails to make a persuasive Macbeth —- although the monstrous roar he makes when he’s feeling all possessed is kind of great in an Incredible Hulk sort of way. You almost expect his eyes to emit a fiery glow.
In sum, this “Macbeth” lite feels right at home in the park. Live bats circle the sky as the onstage vampires hiss. The sword-slinging and cannibalism make for a good, cheap rush. You leave feeling more pumped up than troubled or moved. No homework required.
So what did Deren’s friend say in response to his cellphone postcard from Atlanta?
“Wish I was there.”
Exactly.
THE VERDICT: Not for the faint of stomach.
THE 411: 7:30 tonight-Sunday. Free. Georgia Shakespeare’s Shake at the Lake, Piedmont Park, Midtown. Tickets available on day of performance only. 10 a.m.-4 p.m. at the Conant Performing Arts Center, Oglethorpe University, 4484 Peachtree Road N.E. Or from 10 a.m. to curtain time at the Piedmont Park Visitors Center. Four-ticket limit per person. 404-264-0020.
Permalink | | Categories: Theater
