Macbeth: A Word From the Artistic Directors

This season is full of firsts for Dragon Theater; the first season under our new leadership, and the first time Dragon has ever produced a Shakespearean play. In Dragon’s nineteen years as a company, the Bard’s work has never graced its stage. The reason for this absence was mainly due to the contradiction of Shakespeare to our mission: “to produce professional theatre that is uncommon, intimate, and accessible to its audiences, artists, and community,” and there is no shortage of wonderful theater companies that explore the body of Shakespeare’s work. However, when Max Tachis and Roneet Rahamim approached us with their unique proposal to produce Macbeth, we all knew it was time. They proposed a lean, actor-centric production that would bring the play to life in front of our very eyes as the actors created the environments and soundscapes live on stage using musical instruments, foley, and found objects.

As actors ourselves, we were thrilled at the prospect of presenting the tragedy of Macbeth for it holds a special place in both of our theatrical hearts. Beyond being our favorite from Shakespeare’s cannon, this story could not be more timely in dealing with power and gender dynamics in a way which mirrors our world to a disturbing extent. But the thing that tipped us over the edge in selecting this piece more than anything else was the team who proposed it. When this pitch was presented to us with four stalwarts of the Bay Area acting community, Roneet, Max, Tasi, and Maria as the core team around whom the rest of the ensemble would be built, we knew that we had something truly special on our hands. Throw in Dragon veteran, Troy Johnson and newcomers to the Dragon stage Jonathan, Sarah, and Maya and we believe what you get is pure alchemy. We hope you enjoy the magic of our first 2nd Stages show of the year (and our very first Shakespeare production EVER) and we cannot wait to keep sharing more with you.

 -Alika Spencer-Koknar & Max Koknar