Shining lights, vibrant language and a large audience are familiar to some who indulge in the performing arts, but not everyone is as experienced in the world of the theatre. However, this doesn’t mean that your average joe cannot enjoy what theatre productions have to offer.
When I walked into Marshall Theatre on Oct. 30, I had no idea what I was going to experience. I had only been to a couple of productions in general, and never a Linfield Theatre production. I also had never heard the story of Shakespeare’s “Macbeth,” Linfield Theatre’s fall 2025 production, so this was an entirely new experience. Therefore, I must review Linfield Theatre’s version of Macbeth through a layman’s perspective.
The first aspect of the show that left a major impression was the Weird Sisters played by sophomore Eleanor Black, senior Lucy Ingham and first-year Echo Koons. This group of women fully embraced their characters in a way that added a real spooky factor to the show. They spoke with witchy voices and moved eerily across the stage individually and together as they gave their lines.
As expected for a Shakespeare play, there was a lot of dialogue. There was so much dialogue that it was hard to keep up with what was going on for the majority of the story. I felt like I was mainly using context clues to put the puzzle pieces together. There were also a lot of characters. As the story went along, more characters became relevant to the story, but some of them felt unnecessary as they didn’t add anything to the plot.
While the set seemed very well done, it was a little confusing in relation to the plot. There were two wooden boat-looking things, but I wasn’t sure what they actually were. The “boats” turned into the woods for about 10 minutes towards the end of the production for a fight scene. Regarding the fight scenes, I would have loved to see a choreographed fight scene between Macbeth and Macduff instead of turning out the lights for an implied fight scene.
Along with the incredible costumes, I was extremely impressed with the performances of Macbeth, played by senior Colin Bellairs, and Lady Macbeth, played by sophomore Julia Hutchison. They had copious amounts of difficult dialogue to remember, and they delivered their lines tremendously. They spoke with emotion and passion through every line and worked very well together. Their facial expressions and body movements really helped tell the story to those like me who have never experienced a Macbeth production.
At the end of the show, I believe I understood the basics of the plot, but I encourage those who have never experienced Macbeth or the theatre to try something new through Linfield’s theatre program.
Even though I may not know the history and significance of certain theatre productions, there is still something for everyone to enjoy in the theatre, no matter the level of familiarity.
