BWW Preview: LIGHTS OUT MACBETH Turns out the Lights; Turns up the Volume

Lights Out Macbeth. It sounds like a really cool party. It sounds like a party I want to get invited to. Lights Out Macbeth: It's an event. It's an experience. And the invite is out: this weekend Kit Steinkellner and Upstage Left are turning the lights out at the Unitarian Society to present Shakespeare's tale of ambition and murder.

For those unfamiliar, Upstage Left is a section of Santa Barbara Theatre's youth branch. Recent productions include Lysistrata and The Tempest, both of which featured a young cast with an energetic acumen for stage presence and bold enthusiasm from the directing adults at the helm. Upstage Left's productions do what youth theatre should do--inspire a sense of joy and discovery into the act of theatre by infusing the essence of playing into the process of producing a play. Lysistrata allowed for play in the forest; The Tempest allowed for play at the beach. Now Lights Out Macbeth allows for play with the haunted house motif of ghost stories in the dark. Director Kit Steinkellner's objective in applying this style of theatre with her young performers is to offer the opportunity for deeper understanding of mature, emotionally complex material while fostering enthusiasm for both the performance and literary aspects of theatre. As a fan of youth theatre that both teaches and entertains, I'm looking forward to Lights Out Macbeth, an hour-long contemporary version of the Scottish Play (lit by flashlight) in the Santa Barbara Unitarian Society's Jefferson Hall.

Beyond the fact that I appreciate the function of youth theatre, the spirited conceptualization of Lights Out Macbeth shouldn't be overlooked. I'm frequently annoyed by the rehashing of obsolete theatrical material that is produced simply because it is available. While I concede that valid, enduring aspects of human culture can be gleaned from any play, the unfortunate truth of time's passage is that some plays, in their original form, utilize dramatic momentum that has lost touch with current culture. This critique doesn't apply to Macbeth, which should continue to be performed; despite its antiquation, Macbeth (even in a language other than Shakespearian English) still captures the chilling avarice, undaunted mettle, and vaulting ambition of which mankind is capable. Upstage Left has, in the past, successfully adapted classic theatrical material for maximal cultural relevance while maintaining the appropriate emotional significance and thematic elements of the original work. In the case of Lights Out Macbeth, teenagers in search of a party enter an abandoned building. The Lights go out. The experience of Macbeth ensues, and the party begins.

Featuring Antonio De Nunzio, Camille Umoff, Natalie Kellogg, Blake Benlan, SommerRae Fox, Juan Dean Garcia, Emma inglehart, and Nick Blondell.

Saturday and Sunday, 3/14 and 3/15
6:30PM and 8:30 PM
Santa Barbara Unitarian Society's Jefferson Hall,
1535 Santa Barbara St

TICKETS: http://lightsoutmacbeth.brownpapertickets.com/

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