By Katelan Cunningham
After a matinee show for local highschoolers, some of the cast of “Macbeth”and director Mark Tymchyshyn came to the green room to answer some questions and give insight into their roles of the Orson Welles adaptation turned post-apocalyptic.
Director Mark Tymchyshyn: “The thing I’m most scared about is that young people won’t appreciate Shakespeare because it can be difficult to understand. It can be very lengthy. I put it in the future so that it would have an appeal to a younger crowd; make it full of action. A lot of fights.”
Will Mobley fourth-year performing arts major
Role: Macduff —the king’s right-hand man
“I love Shakespeare. It’s the most beautiful, the juiciest—the greatest stuff to work on, but it can be boring sometimes because it’s so long and I think what Orson Welles’ did with this is he made it interesting again and the pace is quickened, some of the characters are trimmed out that might be considered unnecessary, and it’s fun. That’s the best component.”
Maggie Hart second-year graduate performing arts major
Role: Hecate
“In Shakespeares’ version, Hecate is a smaller character, so Orson Welles has really pumped up Hecate to create a live fear in the audience—something the audience could relate to more and be truly be afraid of and excite.”
Romell Witherspoon: fourth-year performing arts major
Role: Banquo—general in the king’s army
“I guess the hardest thing about (stage fighting) is the thought that all of these swords are real and that with one mistake, one lack of eye contact, something tragic can severely happen. But in terms of it being hard, it’s muscle memory. Just like riding a bike, once you get out there and start hitting your targets, all is well.”
Kelly Rogers third-year performing arts major
Role: Lady Macbeth
“It was the most difficult role I have ever played. It’s really difficult to play one of the most evil female characters in all of English literature. But, as the actor, you can’t view her as evil. You have to view her as all of the choices and decisions she makes are grounded and she believes what she’s doing is right.”
Daniel Molina third-year performing arts major
Role: Macbeth
“In the real world I would never ever ever get a chance to play Macbeth because he’s a got to be a big guy, he’ got to be older, he’s got to be a general and a soldier, but that’s why I feel it fit this adaptation so much because everyrthing’s so visceral and animalistic and our cast is so young that Macbeth has to be doubly that. He’s got to be a predator. He’s got to be an animal And a warrior. And we found little things.
I’m not exactly built stronger than everyone else so maybe he’s just quicker than everyone else. Just little things like that which is great to see those kinds of differences in characters. People go in assuming that he’s got to be that way, but they see him this way.”
