THE TRAGEDIE OF MACBETH Comes to Shakespeare Center LA

When a director from England's Royal Shakespeare Company and a Disney Imagineer come together, the hottest show of the Halloween season emerges. Shakespeare Center of Los Angeles(SCLA) presents The Tragedie of Macbeth - An Immersive Experience is a fast-paced immersive production that moves from the foggy Scottish Heath and the wind-whistling castle in Invernesss to the witches coven and the doomed Macduff's house. The audience moves through SCLA's 22,000 square-foot building encountering floating daggers, tapestries that come to life, and bleeding walls while 9 actors tackle 20 characters. Tickets for #MacbethSCLA shows October 12 through November 3 are on sale now at www.ShakespeareCenter.org.

Macbeth's seemingly random meeting with three witches launches him on an escalating path of bloody carnage that haunts both him and his wife and drives them mad. This quick-moving, 90-minute environmental theatre spectacular features live music and uses an adaptation by director Kenn Sabberton who is well-known known for his work at England's Royal Shakespeare Company.

"By removing the stage, the audience feels they are part of the drama," said Sabberton. "They will experience the tension of Macbeth's dilemma as he sets about to prove the witches' prophecies."

Retired Disney Imagineer Chris Runco, who designed special effects for The Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Tom Sawyer's Island, worked with Sabberton and the SCLA Veterans In Art crew to add mystery and magic to the show.
"MacBeth is a wonderful piece to present in this immersive form" said Runco. "We can send our audience to misty Scottish moors, walk them through eerie, torch-lit castles, and surround them with chanting witches and bloody ghosts - a perfect way to bring this incredible, classic story to life."

Military veterans are hired by SCLA to learn theatre skills and work in every aspect of production from front-of-house to costumes, set building to lighting.

The show begins in the lower level of SCLA's downtown building, located on 1st Street near the 110 Freeway and the Walt Disney Concert Hall. From there, the audience will walk, sit, climb stairs, navigate ramps, and wind through the building where players and scenes instantly pop up in the dark. Finally, the audience arrives for the visceral and haunting climatic conclusion of Macbeth.

In SCLA's production of The Tragedie of Macbeth, nine actors perform all the roles. They guide audience members from the Witches Heath, down the haunted hallways of Macbeth's castle, and to the unsuspecting Macduff family's peaceful home. Audiences pay a visit to the lair of the "toil and trouble" witches brewing around their cauldron and finally witness a fateful battle where a confrontation between rival adversaries pitches good against evil.

"This is a Macbeth for the Game of Thrones generation," said Ben Donenberg, artistic director of the Shakespeare Center. "People looking for a scary haunted house experience or those who enjoy their Shakespeare in a unique environment will be equally entertained as we tell an old story in a modern and fun way."

Popular quotations from Macbeth have worked their way into the public's consciousness even in the 21st century. Ten of the most popular are:

• Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn, and cauldron bubble. - Weird Sisters
• Fair is foul, and foul is fair. - Weird Sisters
• Out, damned spot! out, I say!- Lady Macbeth
• Something wicked this way comes. - Second Weird Sister
• The milk of human kindness. - Lady Macbeth
• It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing. - Macbeth
• This is a sorry sight. - Macbeth
• When shall we three meet again. In thunder, lightning, or in rain?- Weird Sisters
• One fell swoop. - Macduff
• Come, you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here. - Lady Macbeth

Historically, those in the theatre industry consider it bad luck to mention Macbeth by name while inside a theatre, and sometimes refer to it indirectly as "The Scottish Play."

Performances for the public will be held from October 12 through November 3, 2019. Tickets are $49 for adults and children. The show is recommended for children aged 9 and up. To purchase tickets, go www.shakespearecenter.org or call 213.481.2273.

Performances for all dates except November 3 are at 7:30 pm and 9:30 pm. On November 3, performances will be held at 3:00 pm and 5:00 pm. Free weekday matinees for schools are available in October by calling 213.481.2273 x15

Free street parking is available near the theatre on Bixel and 2nd Streets. The Shakespeare Center of Los Angeles is located at 1238 W. 1st Street, Los Angeles, CA 90026 just opposite the 110 Freeway from Walt Disney Concert Hall, Center Theatre Group and the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion

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