Theater Review: 'Macbeth' by Time's Fool Company

Wethersfield - Time’s Fool Company is presenting a contemporary production of “Macbeth” on the lawn of the Keeney Center. Four outdoor performances remain.

“Fair is Foul, Foul is Fair” (Act 1, Scene 1)

In the Shakespearean tragedy, Macbeth is a Scottish general who is given a prophecy from a trio of witches that one day he will become King of Scotland. Macbeth becomes consumed by ambition and, spurred to action by his wife, he murders King Duncan and takes the Scottish throne.

As king, he becomes wracked with guilt and paranoia. He commits more and more murders to protect himself from enmity and suspicion and he soon becomes a tyrannical ruler. Consequent civil war swiftly takes Macbeth and Lady Macbeth into the realms of madness and death.

Wesley Broulik is the director and producing artistic director of Times Fool and worked with Tim Diebolt, associate director and understudy, a recent CCSU graduate working his first year with the company. Broulik, who is an Assistant Professor of Theatre at Central Connecticut State University, is also credited as Movement Director, Fight Director and Producing Artistic Director. The pair have a strong vision for this outdoor performance and it all works seamlessly. There is a short preview of Lady Macbeth’s “unsex me” scene before Act 1 begins and frequent use of lanterns by the characters that enhance the lanterns with candles that are stuck into the ground among the audience space.

The diverse ensemble of actors work together so very well to bring “The Scottish Play” to life. On opening night there were a few minor difficulties with lines, but the well-known sections were delivered effectively. Matt Lytle, who works in NYC as an actor and acting coach, served as text coach. C.S. Dunn, a native artist to Connecticut, was the movement director/fight director for the intricate scenes.

Blake Kelton Prentiss tackles the role of Macbeth, working for the first time with Time’s Fool, and does well. Prentiss has played Angelo in “Measure for Measure” and Claudius in “Hamlet” in New York. Kiere “Kee” Prusmack, a current graduate student at UConn in the MFA Acting Class of 2023, does very well with the role of Lady Macbeth. The lovely actress was one of the Ronnettes in “Little Shop of Horrors” and Simonides/Marina in “Pericles, Prince of Tyre” at UConn. After graduation, she hopes to be heading to Broadway.

Breaunna Marie Jurkowski, who portrayed the nurse in “Romeo and Juliet” with Time’s Fool, gets to play one of the three sisters, as well as the role of Ross. She received her BFA in Theatre from CCSU.

Maria V. Franco covers well the roles of Banquo and his ghost, Lady Macduff and the doctor who witnesses Lady Macbeth’s madness. She earned a BFA in Theatre Performance from CCSU and has worked with Time’s Fool before.

Katarina Guzman plays King Duncan, the witch Hecate, a siward and one of those murderers. This young actress is originally from Miami and is currently based in Connecticut. This marks her fist play since the pandemic closures.

Sarah Oschmann has the most characters to portray, including Donalbain, Seyton, Porter, Witch and Macduff’s (puppet) son in her second season with Time’s Fool. A Windham native, she holds a BFA from ECSU and an MFA from East 15 Acting School in Acting/Theatre. Oschmann has worked as a tutor in reading and math for K-5 students in Windham, and has enjoyed teaching theater and improv as a teaching assistant in the Hartford area.

Andre Chan stands out in the role of young Malcolm and one of the scary murderers. I clearly remember his performance in “Little Shop of Horrors” at UConn, where he is currently a MFA Acting candidate. This Asian-American creative has its roots in the Bay Area, California.

Quinn Spivey also stands out in the supporting role of Macduff, the noble who heads to England to drag Malcolm back to claim the throne. Spivey also plays one of the witches and also one of the murderers. He is an actor, director and creator from Cedar Rapids, Iowa who earned his BFA in Acting from Webster University.

Samantha Garwood, a costume designer and technician with many credits, has worked up an impressive collection of costumes for this production. The murderers wear light brown raincoats and black bowler hats, while the witches wear short capes of fabric strips that completely fit the low stance that all three take.

The puppetry coach was Kaitee Yaeko Tredway, a puppeteer and writer. She has been a company member with Sandglass Theater, and collaborated with the talented Martin P. Robinson as the choreographer and puppeteer for his debut musical “All Hallow’s Eve” in NYC.

I appreciated the sounds provided by the actors from the open backstage area, and at times from amid the lawn chairs and blankets brought by patrons. The actors also made some of their entrances from the audience area, allowing us to see their costumes up close. The murders take place in the backstage area, still visible but less bloody.

Children in the audience were offered plastic spider rings that they could use to scare away any of the performers if they got too close, which the director demonstrated during his curtain speech.

Remaining performances in this comfortable and beautiful setting are scheduled for Wednesday, August 17, 6 p.m., Thursday, August 18, 6 p.m., Friday, August 19, 8 p.m., Saturday, August 20, 6 p.m. Free admission (donations graciously accepted.) Keeney Center Lawn is located at 200 Main Street, Old Wethersfield.

Nancy Sasso Janis has been writing theatre reviews since 2012 as a way to support local theatre venues. She posts reviews of well over 100 productions each year. In 2016, she became a member of the Connecticut Critics Circle. She continues to contribute theatre news, previews, and audition notices to local Patch sites. Reviews of all levels of theatrical productions are posted on Naugatuck Patch and the Patch sites closest to the venue. She recently became a contributor to the Waterbury Republican-American newspaper. Her weekly column and theatre reviews appear in the Thursday Weekend section of the paper.

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