THE VOICE OF CHICAGO'S GAY, LESBIAN, BI, TRANS AND QUEER COMMUNITY SINCE 1985

I'm ashamed to admit that Oak Park Festival Theater's new outdoor production of Shakespeare's tragedy Macbeth reminded me of awful stereotypes about Scottish people—particularly, those oft-repeated jokes about Scotsmen being notoriously tight-fisted with their money ( aka cheap ).

The instant that soldiers march on in the opening scene, it's hard to ignore how many actors are wearing plaid pajama bottoms. There may be lots of other solid design elements including Michael Lasswell's craggy unit set, Julie A Mack's spooky lighting and much medieval-looking gear crafted or assembled by costume designer Hailey Rakowiecki. But it's also hard not to think of kids' slumber parties once you spot those pajamas.

Then there's the matter of much double casting in director Barbara Zahora's production. Other than the scheming title power couple, every other performer has to take on multiple roles ranging from nobility to anonymous soldiers.

This feels like a budget-saving measure and can be jarring. For instance, Jack Hickey reappears as the drunken porter ( struggling as many have done to mine the humor out of the play's designated comic character ), almost immediately after his genial King Duncan has been eliminated.

Yet where Zahora's economical casting policy arguably works is with Elyse Dawson, Savanna Rae and Mark Lancaster as the Witches. Once these "three weird sisters" plant the poisonous seed in the minds of the Macbeths that they will become rulers of Scotland, the malevolent trio become an inescapable presence in the Macbeth household in the guises of servants, doctors or henchmen—a constant reminder to the Macbeths of the murderous consequences that lead to their bloody end.

Performance-wise, the acting on display is largely standard-issue Shakespearean delivery without delving too deeply into the characters' dark dilemmas. This not only includes the expectedly evil antics of Macbeth ( Matthew Fahey ) and Lady Macbeth ( Melanie Keller ), but also among the "good" characters, too.

I would have like to see more moral strain by the likes of Banquo ( Bryan Wakefield ), Malcolm ( Matt Gall ) and Macduff ( Christopher W. Jones ), especially as the latter two question their own aspirational motives in taking back Scotland from the usurpers.

But if all you're looking for is an enjoyable summer evening out, Oak Park Festival Theatre's Macbeth largely gets the job done with a diverse cast. Notably, trans performer Jaq Seifert is both Ross and the production's fight captain maintaining the impressive "violence design" of R&D Choreography.

Oak Park Festival Theatre also reminds us that, in our troubled times, Shakespeare forever remains timely and relevant.