Merritt C. Glover, Jamie Coffey, and Rachel Lindsey Photo by Madelin Rose Bilan

Last season they added a fall offering to their two-play summer repertory. Macbeth is their second fall offering. Last year they performed the indoor fall offering, Coriolanus, at the 4th Street Theatre; this year's production of Macbeth is staged at the Keshet Dance and Center for the Arts. Without a permanent home, the Festival is creatively exploring venues throughout the city. This process is informing and expanding their reach. Plans call for their 2027 season to add a fourth offering in the spring.

Director Gore and his design team have chosen to set Macbeth in the mid-1800s and are inspired by New England iconography and American Gothic horror. The visual aesthetic is reminiscent of PBS's Masterpiece Mystery and designer Edward Gorey. Macbeth is performed in one hour and 45 minutes without an intermission. This is a fast-paced Shakespearean journey!

Macbeth as gothic horror is a legitimate interpretation, but this theme is not completely realized. The sets and costumes are not consistently in the style and the acting, except for the witches, lacks some of the over-the-top that gothic horror usually embraces. When used, sound and music elements are effective, but a complete soundscape would have enhanced the horror of the production. There is blood, but perhaps there should have been more.

Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are played by Scott G. Hartman and Megan McCormick; both are well-trained and experienced actors who handle the language well. Both, however, appear to be more intellectual actors. There seems to be little passion for each other and little real connection between them. Since this is a major driving force of the play, this lack is palpable. Macbeth is a celebrated general whose ambition, fueled by both prophecy and his wife's urging, drives him toward murder and an ever-deepening descent into violence and paranoia. There is little change in either of them from the beginning of the play to the end.

The three witches are a highlight of this production. Merritt C. Glover, Rachel Lindsey, and Jamie Coffey establish separate characters who play together as an ensemble. They are by turns vicious and scary and witty and laughable. Their movement is an integral part of their presence.

There are a plethora of Scottish men with various titles in this play. Sorting all of them as they enter and exit at a fast pace is a bit difficult. The costumes do little to assist with rank and relationship. The younger men, Fleance, Malcolm and Donalbain, do not appear to be that much younger. Eric T. Smith as King Duncan does not display any actions that signal him as King. Owen Conway as Banquo and Jonathan Graff as Macduff establish strong characterizations and hold the latter half of the play together. William Berg as The Porter is adequate. The minor characters seem to be under rehearsed. In short, the action proceeds at a break-neck speed and little time is used for interaction among the characters. It is indeed full of "sound and fury signifying nothing."

In the program notes, director Levi Gore demonstrates that he understands the tragedy of these people caught up in their own desires, but the relationships are not played clearly and time has not been taken for much reaction and interaction. Macbeth may be the least intellectual of the tragedies. Emotions and vulgar actions should boil over and punch us in the gut. The build and intensity of the actions is not felt by the actors or the audience.

I would urge you to see this production of Macbeth. It is a beautifully produced and interesting Shakespearean production by a company that is particularly important to the cultural life of Albuquerque and New Mexico.

Macbeth runs through November 1, 2026, at New Mexico Shakespeare Festival, Keshet Dance and Center for the Arts, 4121 Cutler Ave., NE, Albuquerque NM. Performances are Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at 7:30 pm. And Sundays at 2:00 pm. Tickets are General Admission - $25. Discounted - $23. For tickets and information, please visit nmshakes.org.

Directed by Levi Gore, Assistant Director: Alexandra Avila, Costume Designer: Kaylee Lynora Silcocks, Set Designer: Ryan Jason Cook, Fight Choreographer: Zane Barker, Prop Designer: Quinten "Q" Avila, Sound Designer/Original Music: Owen Danan Martin, Lighting Designer: Riley Lewis, Stage Manager: `Donna Marie Barra.

The Cast: Scott G. Hartman, Megan McCormick, Merritt C. Glover, Rachel Lindsey, Jamie Coffey, Eric t. Smith, Bailey Hunt, Owen Conway, Jonathan Graff, Chase Kimball, William Berg, Michelle Charisse, Coral Schroeder, Michael Hernandez, Sebastien Moulton Sasha Menendez, Marc S. Lynch.