“Wow.
The Trinity Shakespeare Festival’s production of ‘Macbeth’ is a visceral stunner filled with treachery, blood, guilt, and the full and mighty power of the Bard’s words. If you have ever wondered what it is like to be left breathless by a piece of theater, go see this one.
The opening moments of this production are absolutely electrifying. Shrieking soldiers enter and exit wildly from every direction with swords and banners held high as the sounds of war blend with lightning and thunder in a hellish cacophony. It is amazing both aurally and visually. And it is but a small taste of what is to come. Director Stephen Fried rips the heart out of this tragedy and hands it to us while it is still beating. He uses an amazing array of theatrical devices to make this production look and sound fabulous, but he never resorts to gimmickry. Every move he makes rises inexorably from the text. What’s left is all Shakespeare all the time.”

“Trinity’s ‘Macbeth’ is a visual spectacle and a master class in attention to detail... In directing ‘Macbeth’ Stephen Fried has the courage to allow the actions to speak for themselves rather than serve as a metaphor for something else. His careful exploration of the rich nuances of Shakespeare’s language yields rich dividends, making it extremely accessible, deeply engaging and forms the basis for some strong performances. Trinity’s ‘Macbeth’...is a powerful, energetic, visceral experience drenched in blood, murder and madness.”

“Only three years into its short existence, and yet again, Trinity Shakespeare Festival continues to provide by far the best of the Bard’s work in Dallas-Fort Worth... Director Stephen Fried’s incandescent ‘Much Ado About Nothing’ for Trinity last year was nothing short of magnificent, and was the most superior Shakespeare production, if not the best play period, of the year. Fried uses a similar deft touch for a much different creature in one of the darkest tragedies in the canon, Macbeth... Firstly, the aesthetics from the team of Brian Clinnin, Michael Skinner, and Toby Jaguar Algya (Scenic, Lighting, and Composition/Sound design) are phenomenal in every sense of the word. Slate and stones with a mossy arched cave, scraggly tree, and scattered puddles dominate the thrust stage. There is a smoky ambience throughout punctuated by eerie music, bombastic sounds, and the clamor of war, all of which create a different take on nature and the elemental: ‘As You Like It’s’ Arden is an earthly paradise, whereas ‘Macbeth’ occupies an earthly hell. ‘The Three Witches’ (Morgan McClure, Kelsey Milbourn, Sophie Smith) are demonic and disgusting as they contort, and consort with dark forces. Richard Haratine’s Macbeth begins with wide-eyed wonder, soon transforming into a Fortune-disdaining, dizzy lunatic. He shines as the antic, mad tyrant, particularly in his “Tomorrow” speech. Trinity Shakespeare Festival’s ‘As You Like It’ is “wonderful, wonderful, and most wonderful wonderful,” and their ‘Macbeth’ is “yet again wonderful!”