When recent alumna Claire Kinton ’12 was asked to assist Fr. Richard J. Piatt, O.S.A. with adapting and directing the fall production of Macbeth, “I immediately jumped on board!”
Theater was a large part of Kinton’s experience during her time at Merrimack. She worked closely with Fr. Rick while in shows such as Rent, Into the Woods, and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.
Last summer, the Visual and Performing Arts Department created a group called the Genesius Project, a collaboration of students, faculty, alumni and friends of Merrimack College devoted to creating and spreading important messages through the use of theater. This is also a key component to the College’s strategic plan. Kinton’s first experience with the Genesius Project was as an Assistant Director to Fr. Rick for an original play entitled The 9/11 Effect, which was about how the 9/11 attacks affected the Merrimack community.
The current production of Macbeth is set in the current day, presented in the original language, and featuring a cast of students, alumni, and associate actors for Merrimack Theater. This production is a dark look at the psychology of ambition and madness.
Macbeth is co-produced by the Onstagers, Merrimack’s student drama organization, and the Department of Visual and Performing Arts and adapted for the stage by The Genesius Project. This contemporary version of Macbeth asks what happens in a digital age where our “king,” the so-called “king-makers,” the media, and the population itself suffer from an increasing paranoia about enemies real and imagined, foreign and homegrown.
Unlike any other version of Macbeth you will see, the vision and modern take on current socio and political issues eerily pairs perfectly with the plot and original objective of the play.
“I really think our audience will not have anything to compare this to,” said
Kinton.
Show dates and times: October 11, 12 & 13 at 7:30 p.m. at the Rogers Center for the Arts. General admission tickets: $15, can be purchased online at www.merrimack.edu/rogers or by calling the box office at (978) 837-5355
An opening night reception will follow on campus where ticket holders can pick up their very own Macbeth scotch glass (while supplies last) and partake in a single malt scotch tasting.
Parental note: Contains images of graphic violence. Not appropriate for children under 15. Running time: approximately 90 minutes with no intermission.
