“Blood will have blood.”
After committing horrible acts of violence in the name of gaining power, the title character of “Macbeth” repeats this saying to his wife, admitting that there is no turning back from his crimes.
For Benjamin Reigel, assistant director of acting and directing at Colorado Mesa University and director of the theatre department’s run of “Macbeth,” this line is part of what keeps Shakespeare’s infamous Scottish play relevant after nearly 400 years.
“[Macbeth] is very much like Breaking Bad in that way,” Reigal said. “You’ve got a guy who has this problem, and he chooses to do something illegal to try and fix it, but then he has to keep doing worse and worse things because he can’t ever get to the point where he’s done and okay.”
According to Reigel, the compounding of bad choices that leads to a slippery slope is something we’ve all faced. Maybe not the murder or violence, but the idea that we’re never as clean as we think we are.
“You think you can get away with it and then you have to do another thing to hide the first, and that thing is worse,” Reigel said. “There is relevance to that, not only in our everyday lives but even in politics in the world today, things haven’t changed.”
According to Reigel, what keeps “Macbeth” relevant and what makes it popular are two distinct elements. While the show explores the internal struggle of temptation and desire for power, the popularity rests with the big three: madness, murder, and witches.
“It’s brutal, it’s bloody, and it’s creepy.” Reigel said. “it’s got all those things that are sexy and easy to sell.”
Reigel is thrilled with the work his actors are doing, as the language in Shakespeare’s plays is infamously difficult to handle for both actors and audiences.
“It’s been fun to watch [the cast] go from being very intimidated and scared by the language to the language being absorbed and they’re able to act it,” Reigel said. He believes their conviction will help audiences follow the show.
As a self-professed Shakespeare geek, Reigel knew he wanted to direct “Macbeth” before he even knew he wanted to be a director.
“Macbeth is a different animal to me,” Reigel said. “It’s a play whose greatness I’ve never questioned, but I’ve always had trouble with every production I’ve ever seen or been a part of.”
Reigel says the script begs for a stylized atmosphere, creepy lighting and a plethora of sound cutes, but these elements often bog the show down.
“I’m probably guilty of this myself,” Reigel said. “But there are many elements of the show that are very tempting for a director to put a heavy hand on.”
The language, the difficult script and balancing a fine line of believable atmosphere makes Macbeth a difficult show to produce, so it’s no wonder that a traditional theatre myth forbids theatre members from saying “Macbeth” backstage, lest they want their production to be cursed by accidents and injuries.
But Reigel isn’t worried.
“I don’t mean to tempt fate,” Reigel said. “But it’s not for me. I’m not superstitious, but in my opinion, there are other Shakespeare plays that seem far more cursed than Macbeth.”
Students can catch the final week of “Macbeth” on April 18 – 20 at 7:30 p.m., and April 20 at 2 p.m. in the Colorado Mesa University Mesa Experimental Theatre.
