Meet the Macbeths!
Odd though it may seem, we actually see more of their shared, private, married lives than perhaps any other couple in all of Shakespeare’s work. Mrs. Lear? No mention. Othello & Desdemona? They spend one night together. Claudius & Gertrude? We see them together In public, but their private moments are few. But we have six scenes with Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, we know that they have likely had and lost a child and have spoken about possible paths to the royal throne of Scotland. Benjamin Olneck-Brown is Macbeth and Ariana Karp Lady Macbeth. Music composed and performed by Ariana Karp.
Act 1. Scene 5. Macbeth’s castle. Enter Lady Macbeth, reading a letter from her husband in which he recounts his encounter with the weird sisters and their prophesy that he will one day wear the crown.
Act 1. Scene 7. Macbeth’s castle. Macbeth has second thoughts about their plot to kill Duncan, but is spurred on by his wife.
Act 2. Scene 1. Court of Macbeth’s castle. Macbeth sees the air drawn dagger.
Act 2. Scene 2. Court of Macbeth’s castle. Lady Macbeth waits for her husband to return after killing Duncan.
Act 3. Scene 2. The palace. Macbeth expresses regret for the murder and gives voice to his fears of Banquo.
Act 3. Scene 4. The Banquet hall in the palace. Lady Macbeth dismisses the guests after Macbeth’s reaction to the vision of Banquo’s ghost.
Ariana Karp is an alumna of London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA) with an MA in Classical Acting for the Professional Theatre. She received early theatrical training with Richard and Anne DiPrima at the Young Shakespeare Players in Madison, WI. After receiving her BA in Literature-Theatre from Reed College in Portland, OR in 2011, she returned to the Young Shakespeare Players as a director. She is a founding member of Ducdame Ensemble as an actor, director & composer, an Associate Artistic Director of the International Shakespeare Center, and is a core member of Stairwell Theater Company as an actor, dramaturg and assistant director. Besides classical theatre, Ariana also has a passion for playing cello, something she has enjoyed doing since the age of 5. www.arianakarp.com
Benjamin Olneck-Brown is excited to rejoin friends at Fermat’s for this project after working for several years in a different kind of theater: organizing in Wisconsin progressive politics. His love for Shakespeare dates to age 8, when he looked (way) up to Ariana while playing a mini-Oswald to her King Lear. Favorite roles since include Hotspur (King Henry IV, 2005 & 2008), Smike (The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, 2007), Prospero (The Tempest, 2009), The Fox (The Little Prince, 2013), John Proctor (The Crucible, 2013), and Edgar (King Lear, 2015). He has a B.A. in Theatre from Vassar College. Benjamin received a BA in drama and political science from Vassar College, during which time he trained with the British American Drama Academy in Oxford, UK and the One Year Lease Theater Company in Papingo, Greece.