The show’s in a garden shed and the audience meets beforehand at a secret location. That’s all I needed to know in order to decide to see Litmus Theatre’s  Matchbox Macbeth. Promptly at 7pm our guide led 15 of us off across College Street in Little Italy, along a side street and into an alley. Our guide’s flashlight beam bounced off walls and she whispered the occasional comment. Suddenly a man wandered out in front of us, walked over to a garage and said “Is this a dagger…”. The performance had begun.

And a wonderful performance it was. We were led into a single car garage with seats along the side walls. The stage was the middle. Very intimate. This is an abridged Macbeth, it runs for about an hour.  I’m not familiar enough with the play to know what was cut, but it flowed and seemed cohesive. The intimacy of the setting meant that the actors weren’t declaiming, it was almost as if we were eavesdropping on conversations. The emotion came through clearly.

There are four very talented actors in the cast, Jamie Maczko, Rob Renda, Adriano Sobretodo Jr., and Claire Wynveen. A true ensemble piece from a very creative company.

It was very eerie and all very low-tech. The lighting was wonderful. There were some very impressive effects with flashlights. It was all quite magical.

I particularly liked the way the action continued outside the garage.  We couldn’t see it but we could hear it.

This is a terrific show, I highly recommend it. I’ll be comparing any productions of Macbeth I see in the future to Matchbox Macbeth. Tickets are selling quickly so order yours now.

Details:

– Matchbox Macbeth is playing until October 30th at secret location in Little Italy (location is revealed when you buy a ticket)
– Shows are on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday at 7 and 9 pm
– Tickets are $15.00 and are available online.

Photo – Left to Right: Adriano Sobretodo Jr., Rob Renda, Jamie Maczko, Claire Wynveen