A letter the theater received about the production.
Dear Directors and Producers,
I feel compelled to write to you regarding the production, which my wife and I talked about for a good hour post show.
We have been on holiday in Ventura and Santa Barbara area and attended a performance of your Macbeth. We live part time in the States and part time near London and are season ticket holders at The National Theatre, where they are also putting up the same show, which we were in audience for a few weeks ago. I must say, that professional production was straight rubbish and we were so very pleased to have been able to see what your little theatre had to offer.
Your set and lighting design was fantastic, with the live music a great addition. It is not very often that we say that Americans do a better job at speaking the speech, though we were proved wrong with this production; so much of the poetry was clear and understandable (not at all with the recent London experience).
Another surprise was your Malcolm playing on the page, which we learned from a few people during intermission, you had lost an actor the prior weekend due to sudden illness, and we thought the replacement was just superb.
MacDuff was wonderful. The Porter amusing, the Witches very good ( I could hear a voice from the UK), the child was a fantastic choice as well, Banquo engaging (another Brit!), Duncan interesting and on and on. In our not-so-humble opinion, the strongest performance came from Ross, and the scene with Malcolm and Macduff moved my stiff lip to tears. I would think to push her up the line at the bow with the two men, she’s just tremendous. Lady Macbeth had riveting moments and with the sexuality she exuded, countering Macbeth was engaging and believable. Overall, a wonderful show with a great ensemble of players.
We wish to congratulate you on creating a very good piece of theatre, I do hope you are happy and proud of the work that your actors put on. Good luck for the rest of the run and thank you for such an enjoyable evening, from two “Shakespearean Snootys. “
Martin and Eleanor