Macbeth 1969 (adapted from Shakespeare by Eric Ting)

Well, this thoughtful adaptation of Shakespeare's Scottish play uses lines derived solely (I think) from Macbeth, but rearrangements them and distributes them among only six parts to tell an entirely different story.  Despite the obvious difficulties with such a project, I think it could work.  For example, the new version is set in a Vietnam-era VA hospital, and the lines of the Weird Sisters are given to the three nurses who staff the ward (and two of whom are also married to Macbeth and Macduff--or is it Banquo?).  Sometimes it is clear that when the nurses recite the Weird Sisters' lines, they are the hallucinations of the traumatized war hero, Macbeth; other times, it's just the nurses speaking those lines.  Nor is it clear what role Macbeth's PTSD plays vis-a-vis his murder of Duncan: does the PTSD cause him to kill his king, or does he kill his king because of PTSD? 

I think there are ways that the lighting and sound (which are already used to great effect) could answer some of these questions and give the production more coherence.  Because I have faith in Ting's ability to pull all of this together, I'd like to see the next iteration.  I bet it will be provocative.

Recommend.