Arts Alive San Antonio

By JASMINA WELLINGHOFF, Editor —

The highly respected literary critic, Harold Bloom, wrote in his analysis of Shakespeare’s Macbeth that the relationship between Macbeth and his Lady Macbeth is “the best marriage in Shakespeare.”

Though that may surprise a lot of theatergoers who seldom think of those two as a loving couple, actor John Stillwaggon who portrays Macbeth in the new Classic Theater’s production of the play, agrees. He sees Macbeth as an insecure man, who despite being a national hero at the start of the play, does not believe in himself.

“He doesn’t feel that he’s good enough, for his country or for his wife. It’s his need to prove himself as a man that keeps on feeding the next crime and the next crime,” explained the actor. “And the other thing is his really intense love of his wife that makes him want to please her and protect her. They are actually in love with each other. There are parts of Macbeth that I cannot relate to; I have no desire to be king, I don’t want to enter politics at all, but we can all relate to insecurity. And, of course, I can relate to his love for his wife! (Laughs, as his wife Carolyn Dellinger who happens to be his costar, too, is in the room with him.) Any happily married person can understand the desire to make his/her partner happy. Because my wife is in the play, I can play off my very real love for her. Of course, though we would never say things like the things the Macbeths say, we can start from that place of love. That and the insecurity lead him to do the things he does.”

In the play, Macbeth, a Scottish noble and brave warrior, hears a prophecy from three witches that one day he will be the king of Scotland. He subsequently becomes obsessed with reaching the throne, regardless of how he gets there and what the consequences may be. Assisted by his wife, he first murders Duncan, the legitimate king of Scotland, when the monarch comes to his castle for a visit. More murders follow, as the play charts his complete moral disintegration. The theme is obvious: horrible things can happen when blind ambition takes over a man’s mind and heart.

“One of the major challenges for both us is to show the real love between them and the insecurity of the man, for the audience to have some sympathy for them. They do awful things but if it’s going to be a tragedy, the audience has to have some understanding for them.”

Asked what part of the play he likes best, Stillwaggon mentions the moment when Macbeth, “after doing the wrong thing, runs to his wife to get sympathy and soothing. That’s actually something that a couple does,” noted the actor. “Also, there’s a sort of satisfaction, as the play approaches the end, when Macbeth’s conflict is gone. Though he has lost his moral compass, it’s satisfying to watch because he’s no longer conflicted.”

For her part, Dellinger acknowledges that creating the role of Lady Macbeth for the first time in her career is a challenge.

“It is definitely one of the most difficult roles that I’ve been given. Before this year, I think I would have had a hard time connecting with her, but this has been a year of such loss, turmoil and strife, which are things that drive her,” she said. To get into Lady Macbeth’s frame of mind, Dellinger sings loudly and confidently for a while before each rehearsal. “It’s a way to warm up my voice but it also gets my head into Lady Macbeth’s frame of mind. She wants to control things, to feel powerful,” explained the actress.

Dellinger has avoided watching movies or videos of famous actresses who have played Lady Macbeth over the years, such as Judy Dench or Marion Cottillard who more recently blew the critics away with a “fire and ice” portrayal. “I haven’t watched anything recently to avoid getting their performances stuck in my head. I just want to make sure that it’s my own interpretation. I may watch some of them after we open.”

Marking the opening of the Classic’s 13^th season – dubbed a season of “Theater in the Rough” – the production is directed by New York director, Joe Goscinski, who also directed several other shows at the Classic, including last year’s Romeo and Juliet. Dellinger was one of his students some ten years ago, when she attended the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York City.

One aspect of the production all actors had to deal with during the rehearsal process, was the surrounding noise of city life since all rehearsals were held in outdoor venues, such as parks. And the problem will be there to a lesser degree during performances as well, since all will be taking place outdoors, too. Birds, crickets, distant traffic, and other sounds are forcing actors to adjust their own voices accordingly. “But we don’t want to sound like we are shouting,” said Dellinger. “It should be commanding. The powerful words will carry our voices to be heard and understood.” And her husband added that the actual birds and other critters that may very well be around during the shows will add to a sense of reality and authenticity, since these animals are mentioned in the play.

All performers will wear masks on stage while not speaking, with the exception of Stillwaggon and Dellinger who live together as a married couple. Actors will also keep their distance from each other both on stage and backstage. In fact, choreographer, Nick Lawson, has even choreographed sword fights with social distancing in mind. The swords are six-feet apart, noted Stillwaggon; the fighters are more like ten feet apart. “It’s a masterpiece of choreography,” he added. “Despite the distance, you get the heat, danger and excitement of the fight. It’s really cool.”

Performances: Fridays-Sundays at 7:30 p.m. Oct 2-25; Oct.2-11 at the San Antonio Botanical Garden, 555 Funston Place, 78209; Oct. 16-25 at The Espee (formerly Sunset Station), 1174 E. Commerce St., 78205
For tickets go to www.classictheatre.org NOTE: Bring your own chairs and/or blankets. Chairs and masks will also be available for purchase.