Portraying the three witches in the Actors Circle production of ‘Macbeth’ are Leba Lanton, Linda C. Griffiths, and Laura Doyle.
Actors Circle Photo
Actors Circle production to open in Scranton
Click here to subscribe today or Login.
Shown are cast members, from left, first row: Aimée Novak, Tommy Tomeo, Leba Lanton, Laura Doyle, Linda C. Griffiths. Second row: Jerusha L. Davidson, Davy Janoski, Cas Wilson, Jeff Ginsberg, Paul Miscavage, Jason Narcoonis, Maria Matatics, Jessi Teevan, Katie Dooley, Harry Powell, Holly Townhall.
Actors Circle Photo
When you think about strong female characters in Shakespeare’s plays, Lady Macbeth might be the first to make a dramatic entrance.
“She’s more ambitious (than her husband),” said Judith Mulder, who is directing the tragedy “Macbeth” for Actors Circle in Scranton. “She gets him to do her bidding by questioning his manhood. If you put it in modern terms, she knows which buttons to push.”
But other characters in the same show are more powerful than the so-what-if-it’s-murder Lady Macbeth. For their own amusement the three witches decide to “manipulate all the other characters like pieces on a chessboard,” Mulder said.
And they can do it.
“They’re not like Harry Potter witches,” Mulder said. “They’re very earth-based. They look more like Druids, and they’re having a blast. The show opens with them doing a dance to set the mood. I make it very clear to the audience that the whole thing is controlled by these three women.”
The witches promise each other they’ll meet “when the hurlyburly’s done, when the battle’s lost and won.” And they cast a spell, chanting “double, double, toil and trouble, fire burn and cauldron bubble.” But the moment they really start brewing mischief is when they let Macbeth know he can expect to be promoted, greeting him first as “thane of Glamis,” then as “thane of Cawdor” and finally with an “all hail, Macbeth, thou shalt be king hereafter.”
“They’re dangling a carrot in front of his nose,” Mulder said, noting Macbeth “might very well have pooh-poohed the whole thing, but then the first prediction comes true.”
Macbeth, for his part, might have been content to wait and see if he would ascend to the throne after King Duncan’s eventual death of natural causes. But Lady Macbeth has other ideas.
“In the exposition of the play Shakespeare is wise enough to have other characters talk about how wonderful and brave and loyal Macbeth is,” Mulder said. “ We see this characterization through the eyes of others, before we even meet him. We see him as a competent commander.”
But then he hears a prediction about a future crown, and his wife wants him to move fate along.
“Tommy Tomeo plays Macbeth, and he’s doing a wonderful job,” Mulder said. “It’s really a roller coaster ride for the actor. I love the monologue he gives when he decides it is NOT the right thing to do to kill the king. Then Lady Macbeth whittles away his resolve. We see the slow progression (and after the deed is done) he’s totally frozen and panicked and remorseful.”
Then there are even more predictions, about a forest marching up a hill and no one born of woman being able to kill Macbeth. Will these predictions also come true?
Mulder taught school for many years in New Jersey before moving to Pennsylvania after the pandemic, and said she must have taught the play to students “about 25 times.” Katie Dooley, who plays Lady Macbeth, teaches English at Scranton Prep, and Harry Powell, who plays King Duncan, is another retired teacher. They’ve all taught the play, Mulder said, and they’ve enjoyed discussing it.
Actors Circle will present “Macbeth” Jan. 16 through Jan. 26 at Providence Playhouse, 1256 Providence Road, Scranton, Show times are 7 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays, with admission $15 general; $12 senior; $10 student. For the 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 16, show, all tickets are $10. For reservations call 570-342-9707.