"Shakespeare in the Ruins' (SIR) 'Macbeth' aptly works for its gorgeous outdoor setting in the ruins of Winnipeg/St. Norbert's Trappist Monastery Provincial Park. A pulsating promenade production. Creative outdoor staging and heightened dramatic moments make the play one to see before it closes. Top-notch casting."

The Scottish play has become the darling of some of Canada's theatre festivals this year. While Ontario's Stratford Festival (directed by Robert LePage) places the story's action in biker gang territory, SIR returns to a near-traditional visual look resplendent in the outdoor beauty of Winnipeg's Trappist Monastery Park and Ruins.

Directed by Emma Welham, SIR's' 'Macbeth' is a promenade production. The audience takes its chairs and follows the story's action from different vantage points in several locales around the ruins. A promenade production is nothing new. Last December, at Toronto's Campell House Museum, Soup Can Theatre staged a promenade production of Dickens' 'A Christmas Carol' in various rooms of the house. Promenades take a few moments to focus attention each time there is a new setting. Those with mobility issues will take several moments to move. When the live production is solidly good, it's not a problem to re-adjust each time.

That occurs with SIR's 'Macbeth.' It takes mere seconds to get back into the action of the plot.

The play begins in a field under trees near the back of the park. Three witches (Tom Keenan, Liam Dutiaume and Mackenzie Wojcik) run onto the playing space, cawing like crows. The witches set the tone of the play in their utterance, 'Fair is foul, and foul is fair.' The three of them are dressed in black and have strands of white coming from their clothes.

A war is currently underway in Scotland. King Duncan (Tom Keenan) has received news that his once-friend and now traitor, the Thane of Cawdor, is dead. Duncan tells the soldier to go forward and find Macbeth, announcing that he will receive this new, elevated title.

Thane of Glamis, a mighty and loyal subject, Macbeth (Darren Martens) and his friend, Banquo (Tracy Penner), arrive on the scene speaking about the events of this Scottish war. The two happen on the witches where they hail Macbeth as Thane of Glamis, Thane of Cawdor and King. Macbeth knows he is Thane of Glamis, but how can he be that of Cawdor as well? He demands the witches speak further. The hags also recognize Banquo as the mother of a long line of Kings. Banquo advises Macbeth not to place credence in the words of unnatural beings.  Macbeth cannot forget what the witches have told him. This prophecy marks the beginning of a downward spiral and a harsh introspection.

When Duncan arrives and proclaims Macbeth the Thane of Cawdor, the latter is amazed, surprised, and perplexed that what the witches predicted for him has now come true. In his kindness, Duncan doesn't neglect Banquo and acknowledges that he has planted the young woman, who will grow and flourish; in other words, good things will soon come to Banquo.  While the King remains in good nature, he announces that his eldest son, Malcolm (Liam Dutiaume), will become the next King; a fit of jealousy overcomes Macbeth that he cannot shake. 

The unsuspecting, gullible and foolish Duncan decides to continue this celebration of Malcolm's at the Macbeths' castle at Inverness. Lady Macbeth (Lindsay Nance) reads a letter from her husband outlining the events that have just happened. Lady Macbeth wants great things for her husband and is willing to do whatever it takes to ensure Macbeth becomes King and she becomes Queen, even if it means murder.

What follows in this tragic tale, which most of us probably studied at some point in high school, involves watching an individual who, at first, wants to be a good servant to his King and do the right thing. Yet through influences over which he has no control, Macbeth ultimately succumbs to the darkness that exists within human beings and what they are capable of doing cruelly and destructively.

Emma Welham makes several creative staging choices that work well in this idyllic setting. I can appreciate how Set Designer Lovissa Wiens allows the grandeur of the park and the ruins naturally to set the tone. Lady Macbeth's soliloquy, where the audience sees and hears the darkness of her heart, becomes impressively juxtaposed with the two red angels high above looking down in prayerful approval. What fortuitous luck for them to be in red to signify what is going to happen soon in the play. The banquet scene set under trees after the interval/intermission is a practical choice. The shadows created by the trees and the setting sun heighten the dramatic intensity with the appearance of Banquo's ghost.

There are some memorable visual elements that Welham envisions, which work nicely outdoors, thanks to Welham's assembled team. Jacquie Loewen's fight direction with the swords becomes exciting and intriguing to watch. I applaud Carly Rackal's work on intimacy, which explores some of the violence associated with the various murders. Those moments can be tricky, but Rackal handles them with a sense of sound reality, combined with the use of props to indicate the horror that has just occurred. Anika Binding's costume designs, with coordination by Amelia Carson, are simple, featuring characters dressed in black. Ranking characters will also wear bold colours to show their status. The regal purple sash and top worn by Duncan signify royalty. Some of Rachel Baziuk's prop choices made me smile (as they did for the audience). One was the use of the dolls when Macbeth returns to speak to the witches and question them further. The tall pole used as part of the witches' cauldron is also quite effective. It creates a sense of suspense while allowing the hags and Macbeth a critical item to cling to as the scene progresses.

Emma Welham's solid direction keeps this 'Macbeth' moving along.

In her Director's QR Programme note, she writes about trust in the text, the process, the weather and in each other.  That trust she places in her actors doubly pays off.

They deliver the goods in their performances. Credit to Tom Swares, Text and Vocal Coach, for the consistent enunciation and pronunciation. I could hear every word clearly.

While the actors are athletically in good shape (given the amount of running around they do in character), they focus intently on scenes where it's needed, which in turn creates some interesting stage pictures.

Comedy within a Shakespearean tragedy remains of prime importance, allowing an audience to laugh for a moment. As the Porter, Tom Keenan dutifully makes the audience laugh after Duncan's death. Keenan does so with apt comic timing. Sure, he ventures off script momentarily. He (probably with Welham's assistance) facilitates the twenty-first-century modernization of the moment. But who cares about this liberty with the text?

The audience needs to laugh at this point, and Keenan handles it with spontaneity and adeptness. As Duncan, Keenan presents a believably likeable, naïve and foolish leader who should not have played favourites as he did in his kingdom. Does his Duncan deserve to die for this error in judgment? Absolutely not. I felt sympathy for Keenan's Duncan, knowing what was going to happen.

Tracy Penner delivers terrific work on stage with two opposing characters who are not as far off as one may think they are. Penner's Lady Macduff tugs at the heartstrings when she has every right to feel angry at her husband for leaving her and their children alone in a time of strife and war. Penner's last few minutes as Lady Macduff before her murder are intense with just that slight touch of the frightening. As Banquo, Penner adopts the same strength of character as Lady Macduff. I thought Penner shows strength in her acting ability as Banquo's ghost in the banquet scene where Macbeth hallucinates seeing his friend. Although she says nothing, she conveys everything through her physical stance, costuming, and the way she stares at Macbeth. Visually intense, bordering on horrific.

Mackenzie Wojcik's Ross, Liam Dutiaume's Malcolm, and Ray Strachan's Macduff are virile, genuine fighters who ultimately become aware of the powers of deception and how they wreak havoc. Strachan's Macduff is heartbreaking. When he learns that his wife, children and servants are all slaughtered at Macbeth's hands, Strachan allows the gravitas of the moment to sink in first slowly. The pain and agony in his face reveal it all.  Strachan does not overact but enables his manhood to feel the emotions first before he pulls himself together to continue the task to ensure order returns to Scotland.

Darren Martens and Lindsay Nance give formidable performances as Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. There's a brooding and simmering sexual chemistry between the two initially suggested by Macbeth's welcome home. Martens' Macbeth becomes like putty in this scene, and Nance intuitively picks up on that. Her Lady Macbeth deliciously spurns her husband, insults his manhood, and quickly emasculates him when he cannot go through with the crime of regicide the two commit. 

When the tables turn, and they get what they want, Martens handles Macbeth's descent into madness with charismatic guts. There's an animalistic hunger in Martens, and he relishes the moment when he lets out an anguished howl at the banquet scene. Thankfully, he never ventures into the overacting. Like Martens, Nance neither ventures into histrionics. She keeps her performance level grounded, listens intently, and watches what's going on around her, most evidently upon the discovery of Duncan's murder.  Nance's sleepwalking scene as Lady Macbeth becomes remarkably pitiable to watch. The very life of the woman has been ripped away from her.

A promenade production pulsating with intrigue, surprise, and laughter, mixed with moments of tension and synergy, makes this 'Macbeth' one not to be missed before it closes.

Please go and see it.

Running time: approximately two hours and 30 minutes with one interval/intermission.

The production runs until July 5 at the Trappist Monastery Provincial Heritage Park, 80 Rue des Ruines du Monastere, Winnipeg.  For tickets, email boxoffice@sirmb.ca or call (204) 891-9160.

SHAKESPEARE IN THE RUINS presents
'Macbeth' by William Shakespeare

Directed by Emma Welham
Set Design: Lovissa Wiens
Costume Design: Anika Binding with Coordination by Amelia Carlson
Props and Set Coordinator: Rachel Baziuk
Intimacy Director: Carly Rackal
Fight Director: Jacquie Loewen
Text and Vocal Coach: Tom Swares
Production Manager: Steven Vande Vyvere
Assistant Production Manager and Running Crew: Alex Sinclair
Stage Manager: Samantha Sage

Performers: Darren Martens, Lindsay Nance, Tracy Penner, Ray Strachan, Tom Kennan, Liam Dutiaume, Mackenzie Wojcik