Hedgerow Theatre Company presents Tim Crouch’s I, Banquo

Before Banquo himself arrives, a character known simply as “the Guitarist” takes the stage, played by Great Valley Middle School eighth-grader Arlo Bramucci (son of Hedgerow executive artistic director Marcie Bramucci). He comes to embody Banquo’s son Fleance, a minor character in Macbeth but a significant one in this tale. Bramucci has serious electric guitar skills, and his gentle presence and occasional distorted heavy-metal riffing through the 50-minute monologue become a focus for Banquo’s sincere love of his son and desire for his legacy.

Crouch, a British playwright and performer, has authored a series of similar monologues showcasing perspectives of Shakespeare’s minor characters, including I, Peaseblossom and I, Malvolio. Here, Banquo wrestles with the question of what he would have done if he had received Macbeth’s prophecy of kingship, with the refrain it could have been me. Would he have lorded over others and exploited them if he could taste the crown?

A demanding monologue

I, Banquo, like many monologues, requires a tour de force actor. Stephen Patrick Smith, well-known to Philadelphia theatergoers as both an actor and director, brings us into the intimate ruminations that haunt Banquo’s ghost. He holds our attention, speaking directly to us while never making his focus feel awkward or uncomfortable (as can happen in one-person shows performed by less skilled actors). Crouch’s script integrates text from Macbeth with more contemporary language, giving Smith a great vehicle to explore the ravages of love, betrayal and revenge.

Directed by Peter DeLaurier, this production’s minimalist design (lights by Lily Fossner and set by Sarah Pierce) creates an effective black-box feeling on Hedgerow’s mainstage. As Banquo reveals and reflects on the events that led to his murder, he also engages in a kind of performance art. A white curtain hangs behind the area from which Banquo addresses us. Just in front of him is a metal cauldron. Through the growing tension of his tale, Banquo reaches into the vessel and draws out what first seems like red paint. But because we’re in the world of Macbeth, it can only be blood. Smith uses that thick red stuff to paint his hands, arms, and ultimately his face; to throw it like Jackson Pollack on the curtain behind him as he describes brutal murders, reminding us of Macbeth’s depravity.

Timeless power struggles

Of course, in the monarchy of Elizabethan times, no-one was imagining that power could be shared, that there was another way to rule, that Macbeth and Banquo might have become partners in leadership or in any other enterprise. In Shakespeare’s world, rules were prescribed, war was ongoing, women had no rights, and beliefs about evil witches prevailed. But the questions of I, Banquo feel immediate and real in our own era of utter political turmoil and global mayhem, as we watch what happens when people who thirst for power reign.

An evasive dream

Throughout the show, Fleance sits patiently to the side of the stage, listening respectfully to his father’s ghost, occasionally lighting a candle when requested and strumming his guitar. Banquo is told by the Weird Sisters that it is his descendants, not Macbeth’s, who will be kings. Fleance escapes murder and becomes for Banquo (even in his ghostly form) a living kind of revenge.

But listening to this old tale of blood spilled and the lust for power, even told from sympathetic Banquo’s perspective, left me wanting more for Fleance. I want him to grow up in a time in which boys are taught that power comes from knowing yourself, your vulnerability and strengths, and that sharing power lifts everyone up. As I left the theater, the evasiveness of that dream was the ghost haunting me.

I, Banquo is performed in repertory with Nora: A Doll’s House through April 6, 2025.