Review by James Wilkinson

‘Macbeth’ – Written by William Shakespeare. Directed by Daniel Thomas Blackwell. Scenic Design: Zachary A. L. Stern. Lighting Design: Erik Fox. Projection Design: Elizabeth Gove. Costume Design: Evelyn Quinn. Music and Sound Design: Josh Garcia. Fight Director: Lauren Squier. Presented by the Underlings Theatre Co April 5-13, 2019 at the Mosesian Center for the Arts.

As I said to my friend as we left the venue, it’s just not theater unless it ends with a severed head in a bag. On this, it would seem that William Shakespeare and I are on the same page, at least when it comes to his tragedies (though imagine how a severed head in a bag might liven up the ending of The Comedy of Errors. Oh, the possibilities!). You might find something strangely familiar in the air when attending the Underlings Theatre Co.’s production of Macbeth. That’s by design. For their fifth (and sadly final in Boston) production, the Underlings have found inspiration for their take on the Bard’s story in a bevy of modern horror movies. There’s a dash of Evil Dead, a smattering of Paranormal Activity, and a whole lot of The Blair Witch Project. To lay my cards on the table, I’ll say that Macbeth has long been my favorite Shakespeare play, so the Underlings probably could have done the show as a staged reading with scripts in hand and I’d have loved the show. My own personal bias aside, though, I still think there’s a lot to recommend this production of Macbeth, not least of all a fantastic lead performance and handful of visuals that tap into the eerie nature of the play.