Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, the Not-So-Royal Shakespeare Company (NSR) invites the Notre Dame community to attend its production of Macbeth. The show will take place in Washington Hall Lab Theatre at 7 p.m. each night.
NSR is Notre Dame’s completely student-run Shakespeare troupe. It is a club as well as a production company that puts on one Shakespeare play per semester. The show will feature senior Harrison Larkins as Macbeth and junior Christina Randazzo as Lady Macbeth.
Senior Cate Cappelmann, director of the production, said immediately when you walk into the lab theatre, you are confronted with an intimate black box space.
“The characters are going to be right up in your face,” said Cappelmann. “It’s almost like a fly on the wall experience.”
Cappelmann’s take on the play is more traditional, with a more sympathetic portrayal of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, she said.
“Our productions vary from director to director — what their vision is,” Cappelmann said.
Rehearsals for the show have been running about five days a week since a couple of weeks into the school year.
Randazzo said she and Larkins have a great relationship on stage and off.
“Harrison has done such an amazing job,” Randazzo said. “Having a scene partner like him just makes the whole thing so much easier.”
The cast has put in a lot of hard work but also has had fun in rehearsal, she said.
“Lots of laughter, lots of fun, silly things that go on behind the scenes,” Randazzo said. “It’s a tragedy, but sometimes in rehearsal, it felt like comedy.”
Larkins said he finds Macbeth to be horrifying, both because of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s murderous desires and because audience members can see themselves in their desires.
“I think what really compels me the most about [Macbeth] is that he is sort of a reflection of all of us in many ways,” Larkins said.
Many of the costume pieces for the show are hand-sewn by members of the production team.
Randazzo said the costume makers have put “blood, sweat and tears” into making the bodices and other pieces.
“I think it just brings a whole new level of life to it,” Randazzo said.
Cappelmann said she is investing in quality props while still keeping the set minimal.
“Yesterday was our big … day where we were just designing all the lights and rehearsing with the original sounds for the first time,” Cappelmann said.
Larkins said it has been really nice this semester to not wear masks while performing.
“So much of theater is what's going on in the face and being able to see each other,” Larkins said. “Much of the success of theater, I think, depends on being able to react to what your fellow actors are doing in the moment.”
QR codes on posters around campus provide the link to ticket sales. Tickets can also be purchased on NSR’s website, Instagram and Facebook or at the door as space is available.
Cappelmann said Macbeth is not just about an evil wife manipulating her husband.
“It’s a play more about the choices we make and the consequences of them and how our desires can lead us astray,” Cappelmann said.
