Macbeth

I spent part of the morning contemplating going to Denver for the weekend. An old roommate of mine lives there and I have an open invitation to visit anytime. Then the practical side of me took over. First of all, I think that Denver is a six hour drive from Omaha. Plus the rental agency probably does not want me to cross states lines with the car. The most important reason not to go is that I have no idea what my old roommate is doing this weekend. He might not even be home and I don't have his phone number. So I guess that I have eliminated that idea.

What I really want to do is just drive somewhere. I know that the western part of the state has some bluffs that would be neat to see so that might be a more reasonable possibility. The Lewis and Clark documentary got me in this mood to travel and see the rest of the state.

Its strange to think that in a week I will be going back home. Being here has really freed me. All of my responsibilities are hundreds of miles away. This list would include my job, house and car.

The production of Macbeth was a nice change of pace. Its been years since I have been to a play, so I was ready for anything. I'll start by describing the set which consisted of eight columns that bled when the blood scenes took place. The bleeding was cracks in the columns that would glow red. I think that I would have liked them better if they didn't bleed.

What really surprised me was Macbeth himself. Maybe I am so used to the Welles film version that I can't see the play any other way. The actor was the exact same height as me, maybe even shorter. So Macbeth wasn't a towering figure, but more of a compact version. He did do a good job. Sometimes he seemed to pause just a little too long, but he got into the role.

Lady Macbeth was a worthy compliment to Macbeth. The out damned spot scene was done with taste and not overwrought.

The actor portaying Banquo reminded me of Chris Eliot, from David Letterman fame. This resemblance doomed him from the start as far as I was concerned. I kept waiting for him to do something funny.

Macduff was over the top, but isn't all of Shakespeare that way at times.

The part that was really made me wince was the fight scenes. They were very proud of them, but I couldn't wait for them to end. Staged fighting just looks dumb to me, no matter how well it is choreographed. I think that this comes from my tae kwon do background. I know from first hand experience how people move when they fight. Then again we weren't swinging swords and wearing medieval costumes.

Despite my criticism, I had a very good time.

I don't have any real plans for tomorrow yet.