Blood, knives and meticulously choreographed sword fights graced the Garland stage from Feb. 6 to Feb. 8, as Polytechnic School’s Performing Arts Department hosted its first-ever production of Shakespeare’s tragic masterpiece, Macbeth. The tragedy discusses the idea of how a desire for power can lead to reckless ambition and impulsive decision in five acts.
Sophomore Olivia Rivera-Vasquez, who portrayed Hecate, among other roles, commented, “We bonded over getting to delve into Shakespeare together. It can be tricky, but when you have a group of people who are there with you, it’s easier to get into the text and understand it.”
The production heightened audience engagement with an arena style venue, becoming the first Poly play in Garland Theater to feature audience members sitting in rows on the stage. The show consists of various murders and plot twists, such as the death of King Duncan, brought to life by senior Shaan Srinivasan, and a climactic duel between the protagonist Macbeth, played by junior Anastasia Arrieta, and his rival Macduff, portrayed by senior Matthew Bristing. Famous scenes were enhanced with new special effects, including color changing sets to display the bloody handprints of Lady Macbeth, played by sophomore Sophie Converse, and squirt bottles to simulate blood during the battle scenes.
Director and Performing Arts teacher Samuel Robinson, shared, “It’s been 14 years since we [Poly] did a Shakespeare play. It was important to me to choose a Shakespeare play for a production, and Macbeth is studied on campus in tenth grade, so I knew that our older students would have already been introduced to it and our freshman and sophomores will be studying that as well. Those kinds of curricular connections are important.”
Overall, the thrilling performance was a testament to the diligent work of the production’s talented cast. Bristing shared, “Working together as a group to bring the show together is one of the most rewarding parts. My favorite part was definitely learning all of the fight scenes and getting that choreo down. I know that everyone really enjoyed that process.”
