MONMOUTH — An outstanding corps of actors create a stunning tale of political ambition that spirals tragically out of control in the current production of Shakespeare’s “Macbeth” by Theater at Monmouth. 

While Scottish noblemen and warriors revel in the glory of battles won, and wallow in murders performed to advance their positions, it’s a woman who propels the action.
Lucy Lavely delivers a stand-out performance as Lady Macbeth, a vivacious young wife whose lustful manipulation drives her husband to his eventual destruction. She creates a memorable character who goes from youthful enthusiasm to eventual psychological collapse.
This is Lavely’s first season at Monmouth. She has numerous theatrical credits in the New York area.
Josh Carpenter, in his third season with TAM, plays the title role with convincing energy as his pursuit of grandeur turns to a prophesied downfall.
J.P. Guimont, third season at TAM, appears as MacDuff. He suspects Macbeth of killing the king, and it is MacDuff who kills Macbeth in the final act. Guimont presents a strong characterization throughout the play.
The play begins with a trio of witches telling Macbeth, a Scottish warrior and minor nobleman, that he will become King of Scotland. The witches are key figures in the play as their eerie chanting and dancing foretell the consequences of unchecked ambition.
Although unidentifiable behind masks and in costumes of rags, two of the three witches are played by Lavely and Guimont. The third “wyrd sister” is played by Mackenzie Shaw, first season acting intern from Minneapolis.
Urged on by his wife, Macbeth murders King Duncan and takes the throne for himself, but he is wracked with guilt.
Violence abounds in this play.
Macbeth commits more and more murders, and the violence and subsequent war take Macbeth and Lady Macbeth into madness and death.
In his first season at TAM, Wardell Julius Clark appears as Banquo, Macbeth’s friend who becomes one of Macbeth’s murder victims, and who appears in ghostly form at a banquet.
Mark S. Cartier, veteran of 21 seasons with TAM, plays Duncan, the Scottish king. He also plays a couple of other brief roles, as do several of the cast members.
Ben Shaw, first TAM season, ably portrays Malcolm, son of Duncan, who eventually regains his father’s throne.
CJ Stewart, first-season acting intern from Dallas, appears as Ross, a Scottish clan chief, or “Thane.”
Mike Dolan, 14, plays MacDuff as a boy. He is a student at Monmouth Middle School. In the past three years, he has had roles in two other Shakespearean productions at TAM, “A Winter’s Tale” and Henry V.”
Macbeth is a play that’s filled with familiar quotations, as well as words and phrases that have become embedded in the English language since Shakespeare penned this play in the early 1600s.
In this production, audiences will quickly recognize the witches incantation, “Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn, and cauldron bubble.” It’s claimed that Shakespeare originated well-known phrases in Macbeth including “at one fell swoop,” “a charmed life,” “a sorry sight,” “be all and end all,” “lily livered,” and “milk of human kindness.”
In her program notes, “Macbeth” director Dawn McAndrews, TAM’s producing artistic director, explains how the artistic team developed this “battle between morality and desire.” Macbeth’s downfall comes from his desire to please his wife, to garner praise from his peers, and from a compulsion to revel in adoration from his compatriots and the monarchy.
“Ultimately, the play is not simply about ambition and evil but the lust to have more than you ever imagined, and the will to achieve it,” McAndrews said.
In the past 12 years, Rew Tippen has handled sound design duties for many TAM shows. In “Macbeth,” the sound lends important atmosphere through Tippen’s use of rolling thunder and other background effects.
Elizabeth Rocha is costume designer, Jason Fok is lighting designer and Brian Dudkiewicz designed the set.
Remaining performances of Macbeth at Cumston Hall, 796 Main St., Monmouth, are at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 10, Saturday, Aug. 12, and Wednesday, Aug. 16, and at 1 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 13 and Friday, Aug. 18.
For more information, contact the TAM Box Office at 207-933-9999 or go online to www.theateratmonmouth.org.