"Lady M' at Live Arts Festival

Shakespeare created memorable female characters in many of his comedies but not in his dramas. He created no leading ladies with the stature of Hamlet, Lear, Othello or Macbeth. (The Merchant of Venice, with its admirable Portia, was intended as a comedy).

In Macbeth, the protagonist earns some empathy from us because he reveals a conscience, but Lady Macbeth does not. Shakespeare never explores her character. He even dismisses her demise without revealing how she died.

The Swim Pony company's Lady M attempts to rectify that oversight. In this interpretation, Lady Macbeth's thirst for power is driven not by self-aggrandizement but by the disenfranchisement of women.

"I want not just the coronet, but the command," she explains. She yearns for equality, referring to her husband as "my partner in greatness." When he goes off to battle, she volunteers to don armor and fight alongside him: "I could be ten times the soldier he is, were I a man. Were I outfitted and allowed."

Macbeth refuses to let her do so. Her freedom of action having been curbed, she must wait upon her husband, for as long as he will have her.

Such is her insecurity that at one point she fears Macbeth may kill her and marry a younger woman: "He killed his best friend. If he kills his best friend, might he not kill me? Kill me and marry another woman."

Guidance from witches

This concept of Lady Macbeth originated with the company's artistic director, Adrienne Mackey, and the actress Catharine K. Slusar, who plays Lady Macbeth powerfully and intensely. Charlotte Northeast plays Macbeth.

Ten witches, or spirits, impersonated by ten adept actresses, guide Lady Macbeth and help the audience understand her. Their timing is so precise that when they speak in unison, every syllable is clear. This coven uses many vocal techniques, including screams and yowls, to communicate emotions.

The production is well staged, with gauzy netting extending from an up-front focal point out into the audience space, like a spider web luring you in.

A few quibbles

Some aspects of this production need work. When Lady M first catches sight of the audience, she welcomes us into her bedroom but seems confused. She asks if we've come for the banquet, asking, "Is that tonight?" We wonder if she's already queen and this is the banquet where the king will hallucinate; but no, Duncan and Banquo haven't yet been killed. Does her confusion signal that she's mentally ill? If that's the idea, it's a bad one, because over the next hour her character will develop as strong-willed and logical.

In this play, Lady Macbeth stabs herself to death. The Spirits feel this isn't a proper ending, and they retell the story from the beginning, this time with a different exit. But the contrast isn't great enough to justify the retelling.

Yet much of the writing is magical, as when Lady M recites Macbeth's speech about "Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow" and makes those words seem like her own. She admits to being unhappy, explaining, "Happiness is for schoolgirls and grown men." The script provides humor, too: "You've heard of my husband. Macbeth. Strange— I'm forgetting his first name at the moment."