DCPA’s ‘Macbeth In The Parking Lot’ Performed For Students: See Moments Here
The Denver Center For Performing Arts’ Macbeth In The Parking Lot was performed on Thursday, Sept. 29 for various English and Theatre classes, as well as students who attended the performance on their own.
October 3, 2022
On Thursday, students gathered during school in the Fine Arts parking lot to see the Denver Center For Performing Arts’ (DCPA) performance of Macbeth. The eight-member cast put on an abridged version of William Shakespeare’s tragedy in 50 minutes.
“We travel throughout the Denver Metro area, performing three different plays; Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Macbeth, which you saw the other day,” Justin Walvoord, who plays Macbeth, said.
Directing choices like the foreshadowing of Macbeth’s death and the involvement of the Witches in the play were explained during workshops. On Friday, actors visited various English and theater classes to answer questions about the play and teach students about acting.
One workshop was held in English teacher Dr. Joel Morris’s class during sixth period on Friday. Walvoord and Christian Robinson, who plays multiple characters, held a Q&A session in which students were able to ask about the play, their careers, and what acting for the DCPA was like.
Walvoord explained that in most productions of Macbeth the witches are not regularly included in the play, but the DCPA’s director decided to include them more.
“Typically, in productions, the witches have just three or four scenes,” Walvoord said. “[But] our director decided [that] we want to bring in the idea that these witches are manipulating the story the whole time.”
During the show, most actors will play multiple roles, switching characters after a costume change and some even change the way their character speaks. The play is less specific than the original, as it’s lost detail due to the short time frame, but that means that the audience can interpret the character’s actions however they like.
“It’s wonderful that it’s up to interpretation,” Robinson said. “And I love that the audience can decide what they think.”
See moments from the performances below.
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Witches Jasmyne Pierce (Left), Iliana Barron (Center), and Landon Tate Boyle (Right), were described as ‘behind the scenes’ characters who heavily influenced the decisions of the characters. “The witches are engaged in [the play] in a constant ebbing and flowing relationship.” Justin Walvoord, who plays Macbeth, said. “But there’s no true visual connection, there’s just this kind of ‘spiritual spy’ that’s happening throughout the play.”
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Walvoord kneels on the ground during the opening scenes of the show. He portrays Macbeth as a character with deep emotional conflicts after he kills King Duncan of Scotland. Throughout the show, Macbeth is haunted by the witches, and his death is foreshadowed midway through the play.
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Walvoord and Chloe McLeod, who plays Lady Macbeth, embraces her husband as she goads him into murdering The King. McLeod continues to uphold Lady MacBeth’s desire for power throughout the play, even when her husband begins to regret his actions.
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Throughout the play, the Witches would hang over the crowd on beams. “It’s really neat to have that presence,” Walvoord said. “Even if a witch is just sitting there for a five minute scene watching the audience, it’s a lot of fun.”
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McLeod throws up her hands as she explains why she desires the throne of Scotland to her husband, as she’s the force that drives Macbeth to kill Duncan, the King of Scotland.
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McLeod grabs the bloodied knives from Macbeth’s hands after he had murdered Duncan. During the scene, Macbeth realized the gravity of the situation he’d gotten into, and turned to his wife for help hiding the weapons.
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McLeod reaches out towards the crowd in her final scene. She dies offstage near the end of the play.
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Christian Robinson, who plays a messenger in this scene, approaches Macbeth to inform him of Lady Macbeth’s death. Robinson plays multiple characters during the show, most of which also change from show-to-show. “If I was a witch yesterday, I would have stood next to somebody [in the crowd] and just stared at them until they noticed that I was staring.” Robinson said.
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In a closing scene, Walvoord chokes Boyle, who plays a messenger instead of a witch in the scene. Boyle delivered the news that Macduff’s armies are approaching through the Birnam Wood on the edge of the kingdom.
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Walvoord battles with Grant Bowman, who plays Macduff. Macbeth is killed after Macduff discovers that his entire family has been murdered as a result Macbeth’s thirst for power. After Macbeth is killed, Macduff assumes the throne of Scotland.
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