I stepped out of the car and walked into an outdoor venue in Crested Butte, Colorado, laid a blanket down on the grass, sat down, and admired the gorgeous handmade set that had to be taken down and put back up after every performance. I drove to Crested Butte with my partner over Labor Day weekend to see our friend perform in Firebird Theatre’s production of Macbeth. I went in as a Shakespeare lover and community theatre enthusiast, whereas my partner, who had never seen or read Shakespeare, was simply along for the ride. In the end, we both loved it.
Annie and David Flora founded Firebird Theatre in 2023. According to their website,“Firebird Theatre was born from the idea of providing the Gunnison Valley with more theatrical works and entertainment. A small group of theatre lovers from various backgrounds and experiences got together to bring this idea to life, for the benefit of all residents and visitors in the Gunnison Valley.” Firebird Theatre Co. is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization with a staff made up exclusively of volunteers and every production they put on is completely free to the public. Their production of Macbeth was the best and most authentically community-centered piece of community theatre I’ve seen.
Shakespeare is not everyone’s cup of tea and it can be incredibly difficult to understand. I adore Shakespeare, but I much prefer performing it to watching it because it is so challenging to understand, especially when actors don’t fully understand what they are saying. Despite the inaccessible nature of its text, I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of Firebird’s Macbeth. Every actor clearly understood what they were saying and through their own understanding, they made the text more accessible. The pacing pushed the story along and there were plenty of comedic moments that had young children laughing alongside their parents. The best part was the Star Wars theme. Shakspeare’s, Macbeth, traveled to a galaxy far far away from Scotland and brought the entire audience along with it. It was an immersive theatrical experience for all ages to enjoy—and we did.
The Star Wars theme was a brilliant way to make the show entertaining and digestible for the entire community. The plots of Macbeth and Star Wars—specifically the story of Anakin Skywalker becoming Darth Vader—are strangely similar. Macbeth’s and Anakin’s stories parallel in that they both center around a young man’s unjustful rise to power, followed by his downfall. The Star Wars theme came to life through the costumes and set. Though none of the language was altered, suddenly I witnessed the story of Anakin’s transition to Darth Vader as a Shakespeare play. David Flora, Fireside’s Artistic Director, who played Macbeth, dressed in a Jedi uniform for the majority of the play and changed into a black uniform and helmet after acquiring the throne—a clear homage to Anakin’s transition in Star Wars.
The most captivating moment in the production was the lightsaber battle between Macbeth and Macduff that broke out after Macduff confronts Macbeth for murdering King Duncan. They used high-quality lightsaber props and the fight choreography was highly technical and frankly, impressive. Children and adults alike began chanting and cheering for their favorite fighter. That is the true beauty of community theatre put on at an outdoor venue; the audience can audibly engage and express their enthusiasm in a manner that would not be accepted in a professional theatre production.
In late Oct., had the opportunity to interview the director of Macbeth, William Spicer. I was primarily interested in his choice of theme and the work he did with actors on the language of the script. For Spicer, a theme felt necessary to bring new life to such a well-known show, and to provide the audience an entry point into Shakespearean language.
Spicer said, “I think the theme is a good way to help relatability for the audience, to help the audience feel more connected with it, especially if it’s a reference that they get, because then they feel less uneasy about it being a Shakespeare play that maybe they don’t know.”
Spicer admitted that his choice of the Star Wars theme was not “deeply philosophical,” but he thought it would be a lot of fun for the actors as well as the audience. It started with a vision of Macbeth at the end of the play.
According to Spicer, “I had this kind of vision of Macbeth at the end, like Darth Vader, you know, with a black helmet, and he’s completely gone to the dark side. He’s lost every last shred of goodness that might ever have been in him. And I’m not a big Star Wars fan. I mean, I know references, but I was like, well, but [Macbeth] was like Anakin. And I thought, so maybe we can play off of that transition from Macbeth at the beginning. Macbeth when he’s the full-fledged hero, to Macbeth at the end when he’s the complete villain. And maybe, you know, we can use that, that reference in Star Wars.”
The actors in Macbeth had varying levels of Shakespeare experience, many of them had none beforehand. I’ve done a lot of Shakespeare in my life, many scenes and some full-length shows, and my biggest takeaway is the difficulty and beauty of the language. I asked Spicer how he navigated the language with actors, especially those with limited-to-zero prior experience with Shakespeare. Spicer didn’t worry about prior Shakespeare experience when he cast Macbeth.
“I think the number one thing [when doing Shakespeare] is it’s the language. I mean, I think that’s the reason we still do Shakespeare 400 years later is the language. It’s amazing and fantastic. And so I don’t personally care if anyone’s got experience with doing Shakespeare. What I’m looking for is someone who can kind of see the magic in the language and wants to learn how to do it. Because I think the passion is what you need. I think most people, especially if you pick up a Shakespeare play, you haven’t read the book, the language is going to be hard work, but if you’re excited about it, that’s really what matters.”
Spicer worked with each of the actors, one-on-one, and dissected each line with them. They discussed which words were important and Spicer ensured that each actor understood every line they spoke. For Spicer, this promoted the audience’s understanding of the text. “ If the actor understands what they’re saying, then it matters much less that the audience might be unfamiliar, because as an actor, you will portray not just through the language, but through your body language and through your emotions,” said Spicer.
Spicer’s rigorous work with the language paid off in the end, with every actor utilizing their understanding of the text to convey the story to the audience. Firebird Theatre’s production of Macbeth” was engaging, creative, entertaining, and accessible. Spicer fostered the learning and development of each actor cast and ultimately produced a show for the entire Gunnison Valley to enjoy.