Allen O’Reilly, Bay Street Theater’s Director of Education & Community Outreach, is very enthusiastic about his production (as Director) of Macbeth, which premieres on November 9, at 8pm online. The play has been recorded for Literature Live, the program to introduce live theater to the school children of the east end. Macbeth was recorded with four cameras on the Bay Street Stage.
Mr. O’Reilly explains why the school children are not seeing the play live as in the past. He said, “When we started planning for our (Literature Live) production this fall, I reached out to the schools in late August. At that time there really wasn’t a policy in place as to whether the schools would be doing field trips. We had to make a decision quick. We wanted to continue doing Literature Live; it is such a great program, this being the 13th year. We did not want to do a Zoom like last year with Moby Dick. We knew we could do better than that and that the kids deserved more.”
After conferring with Bay Street Theater’s Artistic Director Scott Schwartz, Mr. O’Reilly said they came to the conclusion to utilize Mr. O’Reilly’s expertise in everything Shakespeare, and Macbeth was chosen. “I’ve done this show eleven times,” explained Mr. O’Reilly, “Nine times as an actor and twice as a director.” Next he had to assemble a cast.
Director O’Reilly proudly said, “The Macbeth cast features seven actors who will play a total of 24 different roles.” The cast includes: Matthew Henerson (Macbeth); Erin Margaret Pettigrew (Lady Macbeth); Genevieve Simon (Malcolm); Joe Pallister (Macduff); Allen O’Reilly (King Duncan); Teresa DeBerry (Ross and Witch); and Gabe Portuondo (Banquo). For a host of reasons, Mr. O’Reilly, without changing a single word of the play, sets the play in 1963 Scotland. His adaptation of Shakespeare’s Macbeth introduces, as he said, “… a modern retelling of the seminal tragedy with no alterations to the original compelling text.” In the interview, Mr. O’Reilly mentioned that he thought of this adaptation as, “One part Macbeth and one part One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest.” The staging of this show replaces the lofty setting of Castle Inverness for a chilling and sterile Sanitorium, within the confines of which the play’s dramatic scenes unfold.
Mike Billings, Bay Street’s extremely talented and innovative Production Manager, is given high praise by Mr. O’Reilly for helping edit the shop and making it a first-class production. The production will be available for on-demand streaming—without the talkback—starting Tuesday, November 9, through Sunday, December 5. Tickets are $20.
