Quad C goes to a lot of 'toil and trouble' in staging Scottish tragedy

Quad C Theatre’s production of "Macbeth" begins in an atmosphere of dank dismay, to the evil hiss of "fog and filthy air" filling the John Anthony Theatre stage.

Shakespeare's Scottish tragedy opened Feb. 25, and the college-aged actors who bring the tale to life do an admirable job.

The Weird Sisters - Ashley Wahlrobe, Lisa Lemley and Wendy Brantley - in their colorful rags, seem to creep out of a production of  “Cats”, or “Cabaret” but prove to be hot harpies from hell.

Hailing the victorious Macbeth, played with tortured power by Andrew T. Chandler, as the future king of Scotland, they plant a demon seed of envy in his heart.

“If people could see inside our minds all the time, nobody would like anybody.  We’re all capable of such dark  thoughts.  Most of us can restrain ourselves, but sometimes we're unable to, and tragedy occurs,” director Gail Cronauer said weeks before the show opened.

Lady Macbeth proves that behind every great man is a woman grating on him.  While Macbeth is ambitious enough to consider killing King Duncan to seize his throne, she has to goad him to "screw his courage to the sticking point" and stick it to his liege.

Kathryn Merry's dagger-sharp elocution stands out here, despite a bog of sometimes rushed and mum­bled lines from ensemble players.  She looks like she has waited about 20 years to sink her fangs into this part.

Lighting designer Craig Erickson brought welcomed seasoned flavor to his role as Macduff, the aggrieved lord whose entire family pays for the sins of its father.

Another notable in this mammoth cast is Nico Smith, who cavorts through his scene as the drunken porter (no Elizabethan language barrier there!) with juvenile glee.  His antics, coming just before the horrific crime is discovered, provide comic relief in the increasingly oppressive drama.

At times, the dialogue was difficult to understand over the strident violin chords of the spooky sound­track.  The scratching cat gut always portended the appearances of the witches and Lady Macbeth.

There were unintentional moments of humor, causing this college-aged audience to titter on occasion.

For example, when two hired thugs set upon Banquo in the woods, his repeated stabbing by one of the murderers drew laughs from the students attending the opening night.

Perhaps their exposure to other aspects of this blood-soaked culture brought to mind figures from popular horror movies who also refused to die.

Later, in the final battle scenes, the combat-stressed Macbeth’s grunting as he whacked away at his opponent reminded me of the growling of the Cowardly Lion in the "Wizard of Oz."

But 'tis a noble effort, this fret upon the stage.  The players do honor to the Bard.

The set is made of primarily two pieces:  gray nightmare boxes that ingeniously revolve, revealing the revolting circumstances behind the act of regicide.

Designer William J. Eckart, who died Jan. 24, was a Broadway professional and the maturity of vision he brought to this show adds considerably to its successful execution.  It is a fitting end to his 50-year career.