Macbeth (Play on Shakespeare)

Such is the power of this play that the very title cannot be spoken in any theater. There are supernatural forces, witches, thunder, lightning, murder, and mayhem in this play. It is impossible to retell it badly—it is that dramatic. Poor war hero, Macbeth is driven to become overly ambitious due to the foretelling by the witches and the scheming of his barbaric wife. This is an apt story for the age of greed and ambition in which we live. Macbeth wants to have it all, but unfortunately, many good people stand in his way. One murder leads to another and another including infanticide. Macbeth is undone by the same foretelling by the witches when he realizes, too late, that the impossible can happen to restore justice in the face of such evil.

The translation by Migdalia Cruz is serviceable to the story and the dramatic flow. However, given Cruz’s Bronx credentials, this reader would have hoped for a grittier feel to the story.