08 August 2010

Standing Ovation

I don't usually give standing ovations at performances, but last night we saw Macbeth at the Shakespearean Festival and I couldn't help myself. I have to like the performance as well as the play before I will get to my feet.

Macbeth is one of my favorite Shakespeare plays, but I haven't seen it in years. There were bits of the story that I had completely forgotten. Last night they all came back to me in vivid imagination and reality. The setting was wonderful and the special effects were subtle but very effective. I was convinced that Macbeth, along with his wife, was crazy and the weird sisters had me totally creeped out. The acting was superb—not just the two leads, but everyone. When McDuff got the news that his family had been slaughtered I almost cried. By far the best performance we saw this year, and probably my favorite ever at the festival.

I think the crowning moment was when I was walking out—there was a girl, about 12 years old, who looked up at her dad and said, “That was awesome!” Enough said.

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