Macbeth coming to Lincoln County
While getting his hair cut in 1996, after recently moving to Libby, Keith Meyers’ barber complimented his unique voice and asked if he would be interested in getting involved with theatre. He thought it sounded like fun, even though he had never performed in a theatrical production, so he gave her his name and number.
“The next day I got a call from a gal that did theatre here in town, so it started with a haircut,” Meyers chuckled.
Now writing and directing for the Pitiful Players, Meyers and the troupe are bringing a scaled down, slightly beautified version of Shakespeare’s Macbeth to the area. In full, Macbeth has about 2,500 lines, which has been trimmed down to about 1,500 lines and will run about an hour-and-a-half.
Practicing three days per week for two months, the troupe is nearly ready to deliver three no-cost stage performances. “We don’t charge admission. We take a little donation at the door, so it’s really community theatre,” Meyers said.
“This is a fast-paced, high-energy show, with dancing, singing, swordplay, plus all the murder and mayhem one expects in Macbeth,” Meyers said.
At least the last half-dozen shows put on by the Pitiful Players, like Snow White and Alice in Wonderland, have been fairly light-hearted and fun. Macbeth is not.
“This is dark, we still have fun, but the material is dark, the music is dark. And the language is tough. That made it a challenge,” said Meyers.
Plus, in the near future Meyers will likely be losing a few performers from Libby’s stable of actors.
“I’ve got a couple of kids graduating this year and I may not be able to use them again and they have never really done anything serious,” Meyers said, “So here we are.”
Gabee DeLeo has been working with Meyers for about six years and will likely be unavailable for future shows. DeLeo has been at Meyers’ side for radio work, haunted houses, and summer and care center performances. “Just about anything theatre related that I need help with she’s there. She’s a great kid,” DeLeo will be playing the part of Lady Macbeth.
Playing Macbeth is another graduating senior, Makana Shriner, who will be moving on after school. “He’s got a mountain of lines, like 250, which is a ton for a young actor. And he does a heck of a job,” Meyers said. “He’s such a good young man,”
“It really taxes the young people to do roles like Macbeth and Lady Macbeth because they’re so complex. They don’t have the life experiences yet,” Meyers said.
Where Meyers decided to add a little beauty to the show was with the three ugly witches. “I have three girls who can really dance and sing. They certainly are not pleasant characters, but they’re attractive and move with grace,” Meyers said. “It’s nice to be able to make a show your own for one thing. I really felt the show needed something that wasn’t totally ugly and dark.”
The show consists of 21 scenes in 4 different acts, which entails using a simple set so props don’t need to be constantly pushed on and off the stage.
Meyers said there have been two other attempts to put on Macbeth performances in Libby, neither of which made it off the ground. That fact also piqued Meyers’ interest to get the play to the stage.
Some people go to plays and expect they will all be grand performances. “I don’t, I go and try to learn new things, realizing that sometimes I have to see four or five show until I see something that will make me think ‘Wow.’ It’s worth it to me to spend the time to find really good shows,” he said.
Those interested in seeing the Pitiful Players production of Macbeth may get their ‘wow’ experience free of charge with performances at the Lincoln Theatre on Saturday, March 7, then at the Maki Theatre on March 13 and 14. All shows start at 7 p.m.