Double, double toil & trouble brewing in Santa Fe
Upstart Crows to bring the ‘Scottish play’ to the NM Actors Lab stage
Three witches meet the noble warlord Macbeth and prophesy that he will become king. After hearing the news, his wife, Lady Macbeth, convinces him to act. After killing King Duncan, Macbeth attempts to ensure his hold on the crown with murder after murder.
The Upstart Crows of Santa Fe will produce the Bard’s “Scottish play” on Jan. 19-21 and Jan. 26-28 at the New Mexico Actors Lab in a Blackfriars production. Blackfriars is a program for veteran Crows who want to direct. The ensemble features young actors ages 10-18.
“They’ve reached a point where have a vision of a play they want to realize,” said Caryl Farkas, Upstart Crows founder.
Produced and directed by Rylie Philpot, “Macbeth” threads love, loss, regret and grief onto the stage. This production examines the effects of war on interpersonal connections, the extent to which people will fight for who and what they love, the difference between a person’s social and single self, trust, madness, morality versus desire, feminine camaraderie, and the human need for safety and contentment.
Philpot is also the company fight director and its graphic designer.
“Initially, I planned ‘Comedy of Errors’ as my Blackfriars project, but the more I thought about Shakespeare and all the possibilities of what and how I could direct, I knew I needed to do ‘Macbeth,’ ” she said. “I had too many ideas about how the (witches) tie into the world, about a preshow, about the characters — Macbeth and Lady Macbeth and Ross, and when and how we can show the effects of war on all these people’s lives. As a fight director, a mystery lover and a person who loves to think, I find ‘Macbeth’ a thought-provoking play. The more we rehearsed, the more rabbit holes I fell into.”
The cast includes Alejandro Amundah, Juniper Barber-Woeltjen, Tycho Barber-Woeltjen, Quin Cooley-Winters, Bodhi Dillan Robins, Ian Gonzales, LaLa Grenier, Pascal Heitzman, Kit Laney, Kieran MacCarthy-Jacobs, Ayla Philpot, Hugo Pinkerton, Bailey Rippey, Max Rogers, Ziv Rosen, Phoebe Rosenberg-Shukla and Ray Spurlock.