Macbeth and Banquo reminded director Jesse Ontiveros of Fidel and Che, and that was the genesis for his idea to set "Macbeth" in a banana republic for the Drilling Company's Shakespeare in the Parking Lot, in a production to be presented tonight, July 30 to August 15 in the parking lot at 114 Norfolk Street (between Delancey and Rivington Streets), behind The Clemente.
This will be the second production behind The Clemente for Shakespeare in the Parking Lot, which previously was performed for 20 years in the municipal lot at Ludlow and Broome Streets. Its first production in the new space will be "As You Like It" July 9 to 26.
"Macbeth" is a play about power and this production seeks perspective on its eternal themes from the political history of Latino cultures. Director
Jesse Ontiveros, who directed Shakespeare in the Parking Lot's "As You Like It" in 2006, is of Mexican heritage.
Hamilton Clancy, Artistic Director of The Drilling Company which produces Shakespeare in the Parking Lot, is excited to welcome Ontiveros back to direct as his company begins its new partnership with The Clemente, an arts organization that serves the Latino community.
Clancy says, "When Jesse brought me his concept for a Latino 'Macbeth,' I thought it would be an ideal vehicle for Shakespeare in the Parking Lot to expand the community it serves. The Clemente is dedicated to the Latino community, and so it serves a very specific part of the Lower East Side that we have not yet been able to engage fully, even though we aim to serve the entire multicultural community."
The production is designed to give audiences the recognition of a coup d'etat in a setting which is more accessible nowadays and therefore more instructive in the play's themes. Ontiveros says, "The idea is of soldiers, one of whom comes into power but doesn't know how to rule, only how to behave like a soldier. He lives by the rule of 'if not war, then at least death.' So he makes the earth bleed."
Ontiveros' production will also include a Hecate, the senior witch, whose part is is excised in many productions. So there will be four witches representing evil. The three novices, impetuous, jump the gun on Hecate's idea of infiltrating the Macbeth household. It's a playful nuance and a commentary on people who are eager to go to war, lacking the maturity to see its complexity. That, says director Ontiveros, can happen to any one of us.
The set will utilize aspects of the parking lot: a withered, viney tree that is embedded in a fence and a large wall with graffiti. Together they suggest if not a tropical jungle, then at least an urban jungle.
The cast includes Dan Teachout as Macbeth,
Sheri Graubert as Lady Macbeth, Robert Arcaro as Duncan, Lucas Calzada as Malcolm, Kineta Kunutu as Hecate; Gracie Winchester, Leila Okafor and Llewie Nuñez as witches, Andrew Valins as MacDuff, Veronica Cruz as Lady Macduff, Joe Clancy as Fleance,
Jack Sochet as Ross and
Bill Green as Porter.
Director
Jesse Ontiveros staged "As You Like It" for The Drilling Company when it took over as sole producer of Shakespeare in the municipal parking lot in 2006. He has also staged "As You Like It" for The Alibi Group, where he is Artistic Director. His NY directing credits include "Cigarettes and Chocolate," Metamorphoses," "Anything but Black," "Whisper," "47 Years of Marriage," "The Hummingbird" and "Wally and the Chosen Few." In regional theaters, he has directed "Two Gentlemen of Verona," "Taming of the Shrew," Boleros for the Disenchanted," "The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later," "The Rant," "Love Letters" and "Eden's End."
