Darnell Pierre Benjamin and Billy Chace (standing on table) Photo by Mikki Schaffner

The "Scottish Play"–as it's often termed, based on superstitions that bad luck will follow the mention of the title inside a theater–is a story of evil, threaded through with fearsome prophesies that "something wicked this way comes." Set during the early days of the Cold War, the production explores mind control and psychological manipulation. It's supported by a steadily sounded score of distorted 1950s pop numbers, especially Skeeter Davis's "The End of the World" (sound design by Zack Bennett).

As staged by guest director Christopher V. Edwards (artistic director at Boston's Actors Shakespeare Project), this adaptation opens with mysterious Hecate (Kelly Mengelkoch), queen of the witches and a goddess of night, turning on a film projector to show troublesome images on the hanging curtain which parts to reveal a grieving woman weeping over a child's coffin. She is administered drugs and shock treatments by three odd women, this production's version of Shakespeare's witches (Sara Mackie, Elizabeth Chinn Molloy and Aiden Sims). We soon realize that this is Lady Macbeth (Hayley Guthrie, back onstage with Cincy Shakes following a long absence) and understand that she is mentally compromised, likely by the death of a child, and consumed by fury toward the world, possibly fueled by the witches who are always near her.

Macbeth (Darnell Pierre Benjamin) tries to console his troubled wife but is abruptly spurned. Before long, her irrationality and strong character sweep him into a plot to place him on the throne of Scotland by murdering the current king (Sylvester Little Jr., another returning Cincy Shakes veteran) and several other nobles, especially Macbeth's worthy comrade Banquo (Billy Chace). The witches never leave the stage throughout the production, sometimes adjusting the curtain or hanging out on a multilevel backstage structure of pipes and video screens. They are the constant fomenters of chaos.

This adaptation is certainly derived but highly evolved (and trimmed down) from Shakespeare's 1606 play. If you've never seen a traditional production (or studied the show in a high school English class), you're likely to be rather bewildered. Several of the 16 actors play multiple roles, so it's sometimes confusing who's who beyond the most central characters. Mengelkoch doffs Hecate's trenchcoat to wear a red dress and deliver a comic turn as the drunken porter who initially bars visitors from the castle where horrific crimes are happening. Further confusion is likely for some audience members seated to the far left or right of the stage where views of the action are obstructed by the towering curtain.

That being said, the Cincy Shakes production features some powerful performances. Benjamin's Macbeth seems upright and honest at the moment he strides onstage, a good soldier. He's clearly troubled when his fierce wife points him on a dangerous path to the throne, and Benjamin vividly portrays the character's rapid unraveling. As Lady Macbeth, Guthrie plays a woman who's clearly unbalanced, popping pills and driven by evil, vicious ambition, able to push her husband in deeply troubling directions. He becomes infected with her forceful ways, but more than once stops to question the morality of their course of action. Benjamin convincingly portrays a man who knows what he's doing is wrong but cannot step away from the inevitable outcome.

As the ghostly Banquo, Billy Chace grimly haunts Macbeth in shimmering pools of light (designed by Watson and enhanced by projection designer Robert Carlton Stimmel), unseen by others who are disturbed by Macbeth's unhinged reactions. Brent Vimtrup (a past Cincy Shakes star) turns in a strong and principled performance as the virtuous Macduff, who challenges and ultimately overcomes Macbeth following a lengthy scene of hard-fought hand-to-hand combat (choreographed by Gina Cerimele Mechley).

Every aspect of this production leans into an eerie rendition of the great tragedy. The witches seem to inflict fear with close physical contact to Macbeth and Lady Macbeth with almost electrifying embraces. Why they are so sinister is left to the imagination, and their louche behavior–often smoking and smirking–is especially (and no doubt intentionally) disquieting. The first act ends with them around the emptied banquet table where Banquo has appeared to Macbeth. They polish off bottles of wine and celebrate the chaos they have fueled. Following intermission, they are roused from unconsciousness to continue their destructive influence.

This production is a little too weird to recommend to Shakespeare neophytes. (The three witches are often referred to as the "Weird Sisters," so such strangeness is not without foundation–even if the production seems to push pretty hard toward outright creepiness). For those who know and understand the "Scottish Play," Cincy Shakes is offering an intriguing rendition and, perhaps, some reason to speak the title with caution.

Macbeth continues through March 23, 2025, at Cincinnati Shakespeare Company, Otto M. Budig Theater, 1194 Elm Street, Cincinnati OH. For tickets and information, please visit cincyshakes.com or call 513-381-2273.