Directors have long felt free to alter the time and place of Shakespearean plays. Much Ado About Nothing set in 1920s New York, Julius Caesar in 1930s Germany, Romeo and Juliet in a modern, unspecified urban setting 鈥� they鈥檝e all been done. So it鈥檚 not surprising that the School of Drama鈥檚 production of Macbeth, which opened last night, is set in America just after the Civil War.
But director Justin Emeka, a student in the master of fine arts program, has taken the changes one step further. He is deploying his multiracial cast 鈥渢o incorporate race and culture into the telling of the story.鈥� In his production, Macbeth is a 鈥渇ierce northern general鈥� a la Sherman, while Duncan, the king Macbeth murders, is a Lincolnesque figure hated by Macbeth鈥檚 southern belle wife. Macbeth鈥檚 rival Banquo is an African American soldier equal to Macbeth in merit who has been held back because of his race.
The point, Emeka says, is to go beyond so-called 鈥渃olorblind casting,鈥� a system that encourages the casting of non-white actors in roles traditionally played by whites without any alteration in those roles. Instead, Emeka 鈥� who is himself an African American 鈥� has cast black actors to play what he calls black roles.
The witches, for example, are newly-freed slaves. 鈥淚t鈥檚 after the war, but we鈥檙e at Lady Macbeth鈥檚 plantation, where she still has servants who function pretty much as slaves,鈥� Emeka explains. 鈥淭he witches have been abused and are searching for redemption and retribution through their African mysticism.鈥�
In addition to casting African American actresses in the roles, Emeka has incorporated some African dance and cosmology, as well as capoeira, an Afro-Brazilian martial art.
Emeka said he was inspired to do his production after playing Edgar in an all-black production of King Lear at Yale Repertory Theater last year. That production was set in America 3,000 years before Columbus, and featured Avery Brooks (known to TV viewers as Captain Benjamin Sisko on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine) as Lear. According to Emeka, there is evidence of African kings in America during the Olmec civilization, so the production was organized around the idea that Lear was the last of these African kings, trying to maintain his legacy.
鈥淚t was a really innovative production that didn鈥檛 quite succeed,鈥� Emeka says. 鈥淚t had me excited but it didn鈥檛 work all the way, so it got me thinking 鈥� I like this idea; let me see if I can pursue it to see what I can find.鈥�
Emeka chose Macbeth because he was attracted to its themes. 鈥淭he play to me is a lot about guilt and betrayal and a nation divided,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 was interested in the cost of betrayal, and in the question of how you undo a wrong.鈥�
With that as background, the post-Civil War period seemed to make sense. Emeka began working on the text last summer, deciding how the characters would fit into the time period he鈥檇 chosen and making alterations in lines where necessary. He admits with a laugh that he wasn鈥檛 always sure his plan would work, but says that when he ran into difficulties he simply made 鈥渂old choices, bold edits.鈥�
Emeka says, 鈥淎t first you approach Shakespeare鈥檚 text as kind of sacred. You鈥檙e scared to cut or move anything.鈥� But the more he thought about it, the more he realized that Shakespeare is done so often, in such a variety of ways, that a single production is just one more contribution to an immense body of work. 鈥淚 had to get the confidence and courage to pursue my vision alongside the text and not think of just serving the text,鈥� Emeka says. 鈥淚 had to serve my vision with this text.鈥�
Emeka says his cast of 19 鈥� which includes both undergraduate and graduate students as well as community members 鈥� has been excited by his ideas and appreciative of the back story his vision has provided for their characters. So, has he succeeded in tranplanting a 16th century play set in Scotland to the 19th century American South? He鈥檚 not sure.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a pretty ambitious idea and I think if it works, it could really inspire a lot of people,鈥� he says. 鈥淚f it doesn鈥檛 work, it could confuse. Last week I was more worried about confusion; this week I鈥檓 leaning toward inspiration.鈥�
But however it turns out, Emeka thinks it was worth doing, as an effort to go beyond colorblind casting.
鈥淲hen colorblind casting began it was progressive, because it was letting people of color into the theater,鈥� he says. 鈥淏ut really what you鈥檙e saying with that is, 鈥榃e鈥檒l let you be white and act like you are just like everybody else.鈥� There鈥檚 something that鈥檚 kind of dehumanizing about that. This production for me was an experiment in saying, 鈥楲et鈥檚 not just let black actors in; let鈥檚 incorporate their culture into the world, the telling of the story.鈥�
He adds, 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think everybody has to do it, but I think it鈥檚 important that we know how if we want to.鈥�
Macbeth will play through Feb. 13 in Meany Studio Theater. Tickets are $8鈥�13, available at the Arts Ticket Office, 206-543-4880.