Nerd Girls' Night Out

Star Wars + Shakespeare can never go wrong.  Never.  I can't even tell you how amazing it is, though I will try here......

To start off with, for my birthday two years ago, Daddy gifted me with something I had specifically requested 2 months earlier:  A book called "William Shakespeare's Star Wars: Verily, A New Hope."  I happened to see a link about it posted on facebook by another marvelous Nerd Friend, and I knew from that moment on that I had to have it.  I copied and shared that link and put my comments in the most blatant of terms that I could:  "Someone must buy me this book for my birthday."  Daddy soon responded with the equivalent of "Yes Dear," and as a result, my birthday present wasn't a surprise that year, and I didn't care.  A New Hope (the movie) is still one of my all-time favorites, and this book did not disappoint.  I devoured it delightedly.  By the time my birthday rolled around again last year, that wonderful author had 'translated' the other 2 stories of the original trilogy into iambic pentameter, so I again received Shakespeare and Star Wars for my birthday, and again devoured some hilarious, genius literature.

Fast forward a few months...

A theater-loving friend sent me a notice about a play that would be happening during the month of May:  Another Star Wars meets Shakespeare, titled MacSith.  It took me about one glance at the website before I knew I was in.  I've seen renditions of Macbeth before a couple of times, and I've read the play more than once...It's a story that begs to be Star-Wars-ified.  So I posted the notice on facebook and informed all my friends there that I was most assuredly going and who wanted to come with?  I got a few bites, we settled on a date, got our tickets, I reread Macbeth yet again, and we all very eagerly awaited our "Nerd Girls' Night Out," as we dubbed it.

The day finally arrived, a lovely day in early May.  We got ourselves a selfie before we went inside:  Munch's Auntie B, my theater-loving friend (same one who joined us for Thanksgiving last year), a long-time swing dance friend, and in front, you may remember my friend who joined us on Pi Day.  :) 

Then we went inside.  The theater, while housed in a very large multi-business building, was tiny, only fitting about 45 people in the audience, and even that was a squeeze.  The stage was very large, literally taking up all the space in the room up to maybe 4 or 5 feet from one longer wall (JUST enough for 2 rows of chairs), and a little less than that on a portion of both sides.  We got a seat near a corner, settled ourselves in, and then when the usual pre-show announcements were made, we were delighted to learn that non-flash photography was permitted.  And not only that...it was encouraged!  I whipped my camera out eagerly, and took many, many pictures over the next 75 minutes.  Sadly, many of them did not turn out well...it was hard for the camera to focus in the dim lighting that we often had.  But I got a few...and of course light saber fight pictures are epic even if they're blurred.  :D

This was the stage--not much to look at, but that soon didn't matter at all.

So first...the acting was superb.  It's hard to pick a favorite from the cast because so many of them were just THAT good, so I'll give some highlights:  First, there were a LOT of witches, waaaay more than the called-for 3, and they all moved and spoke almost as one, using the same mannerisms and voices.  Their movements were incredibly creepy--twitchy, snake-like, uncomfortably flexible, not human...just very, very Sith.  And they essentially possessed Monbeth (changed to make it more Star Wars-y) and especially his wife, dancing their hands around them as the two fought to deny the urges for power.  Lady Monbeth let out a terrifying trio of screams 'Get it out!!' at the end of her sleep walking 'spot' scene that were gut-wrenching--she was very much trapped in her decision, and the screams said it all.

Here are the Monbeths:  Early on, Monbeth himself was dressed in the traditional white and brown of a Jedi.  He changed to Sith black all too soon.  And his VOICE changed too!  Which was amazingly well done, and also very creepy.

       Just coming into their own.                    "GET IT OUT!!!"            

Charging the murderers with their job, and of course they're bounty hunters!

Besides this excellent performance from the main couple, MonDuff (aka MacDuff) cried real and heart-rending tears when the younglings and their teacher (his children and wife) were killed at the 'temple' (with, incidentally, an epic battle that involved plenty of force-pushes and fancy sabering on the part of Lady MonDuff before she was overcome).  And all of the actors clearly had command of Shakespearean English.  There was no rushing through it or spitting out of just 'words' like some of the people in another play I saw recently did--everything had meaning and was given meaning as it was spoken, and you knew by what they did exactly what they said even if you didn't fully understand the words spoken.  THAT is good Shakespeare.  :D  Oh, but it was most satisfying.  Some of the script was of course changed to make it mesh with Star Wars ('core system' instead of important towns, for example), and certain scenes were edited or shortened somewhat--Lady Monbeth's 'spot' scene was a strong, beautiful, tragic monologue rather than a doctor and servant discussing their observances while she makes smaller speeches, for example, and the conference at the end between Monduff and the rightful king Malcom was shortened considerably to reduce potential confusion in some of what Malcom pretends...but I only know this because I had JUST read the story.  It meshed seamlessly with the rest, and in many ways made the play stronger.

The directors also made excellent use of lights.  As they should for something that has LIGHT sabers in it, right?  ;)  The lighting told the story as much as the actors did--Deep, dark reds over the whole stage during the Sith-heavy parts; lighter blues or greens during lighter and happier parts (which of course aren't many in Macbeth...).  The dead characters who reappeared as ghosts also carried blue lights in their palms, so that their faces were lit up, giving that 'blue ghost' look that the movies have.

See what I mean?  Evil:  Very red.  Good: Very blue.

 Monbeth consulting the witches                  Banquo's ghost             

Also, at one point, just as Lady Monduff was killed, everyone froze and the lights went black.  And when the lights came back up, only her Jedi cloak remained on the stage with the bad guys, as if her body had vanished at the instant of death.  Yes, we could see the silhouette of her as she quickly snuck offstage during the blackout...but the fact remains that they knew how to tell the story with more than just acting. :)

And then the lightsaber fights.  Ahhhh.  Those never ever get old.  :D  Even when it's the 5th or 6th or 7th or I don't even know how many battles they had before they got to the last one...they never got old.  There was something new in each successive fight.  2 on 2, 3 on 1, blasters v sabers, red on red, blue on red, long handle v short handle, small knife v saber v blaster, force pushes and more 'normal' combat like punches, kicks, trips...So many combinations, and extremely good stage combat.  We were only a few feet away and it still looked very real...although we could tell which actor was making the striking sound...

The opening scene, in which MonDuff and Monbeth prove themselves on the battlegrounds, and Monbeth wins for himself the honors that quickly become his downfall.

The Bounty Hunters attack Banquo and his son.  The ghost of King Duncan looks on in the background.

Evil has triumphed in this battle, all is red, and Banquo is slain.

The final duel:  MonDuff against Monbeth, now called MacSith, who is wielding two blades.  Sadly, most of this battle was badly blurred in the pictures I took, but at least these couple turned out somewhat clear.

The matching force pushes, of course, and MonDuff has lost his blade and claimed one of MacSith's.

At the very, very end, once MacSith had been defeated, the characters who remained came to the front of the stage.  MonDuff raised his retrieved blue saber straight up high in the air, and a couple of other characters posed lower down and facing front, and in that instant, I recognized the image of the original Star Wars posters and frantically grabbed at my camera, and then the lights went out.  Too late.  Gah! But it was a pretty awesome ending, all the same.  :)

But all told...these guys did their homework, they did not disappoint, and I would see it again in a heartbeat...Also, they deserve a bigger, nicer theater.  This is apparently the second year in a row that they've put this show on (and it was wildly successful the first year too, I just didn't hear about it)...so maybe next year?  :D

After the show, all but one of us were much too reved up to just go home.  We found a nearby gelato place that was open late enough, and, mingled with other conversation, we nerded out again with discussion about the play.  It was a very, very good night.