VIENNA – This year the Vienna Union Hall Association is proud to present the Theater at Monmouth’s on the road production of Macbeth on Saturday, Oct. 25 at 7 p.m. This production is part of “Shakespeare in American Communities,” a program of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with Arts Midwest. This will be the third time the Theater at Monmouth troupe has traveled to Vienna to perform.
The plays presented throughout the state of Maine have been shortened and edited to make them more accessible to people who may not have had the opportunity to attend a Shakespearean production. The dialog is original Shakespeare but some scenes have been shortened and the plays are often presented in modern dress. After the play the there is an opportunity for the audience to discuss the play and ask questions of the performers.
Macbeth this year, is adapted and directed by Heidi Handelsman. Handelsman is a New York-based freelance theatre director. She recently completed her MFA at Brown University / Trinity Rep. Heidi has developed new work with New Georges, Youngblood, Ma-Yi Theater Company, the Woodshed Collective, the Tank, Purple Rep, F*It Club, FringeNYC, and the NYU/Tisch Department of Dramatic Writing. She is a New Georges Affiliated Artist, a member of the Lincoln Center Theater Directors Lab, a recipient of the SDCF observership, and a former Resident Director at Ensemble Studio Theatre. This Fall she is directing the Macbeth production for the Theater at Monmouth.
The story of Macbeth is one of Shakespeare’s best known. “Set in Scotland, the play dramatizes the corrosive psychological and political effects produced when evil is chosen as a way to fulfill the ambition for power.” Nobody ever believes road-side fortune-tellers but what if their prophecies started to come true? How far would you go to attain all they promised? Kill a king? A friend? A child? Three mysterious outsiders compel the kingdom’s champion to commit treason, rebellion, and regicide. Hallucinations become real and daylight hides its face as blind ambition contorts Macbeth into one of Shakespeare’s bloodiest butchers
To prepare for understanding and enjoyment of the play, Dr. Misty Beck will offer a free talk and discussion for those who would like to “buff-up” on Macbeth. on Thursday, Oct. 23 at 6 p.m. at the Union Hall. Misty Beck, PhD, is a Lecturer in Environmental Studies (Humanities) and a Writing Specialist at Bates College. She taught her first courses in Shakespeare while in graduate school at Washington University in St. Louis in the 1990s, and more recently while a Visiting Assistant Professor at the University of Maine Farmington. Dr. Beck recently published an article on Shakespeare and film (2012), and led last year’s discussion of Twelfth Night for the Union Hall.
This year the Union hall received a generous grant from the Maine Arts Commission, an independent state agency supported by the National Endowment for the Arts allowing us to lower the admission price to increase accessibility to Shakespeare in Vienna.
Tickets prices for Macbeth are $7 paid in advance $10 at the door. The discussion/talk on Thursday evening is free. For more information contact Marianne 293-2674, Dodi 293-2670 or email viennaunionhall@gmail.com.
