Shakespeare's Macbeth is so steeped in superstition with its witches, visions, apparitions and prophecies that many thespians have been known to refuse to call the play by its name in fear of invoking a curse, instead referring to it as "The Scottish play." Over the next two weeks, however, the UMass Renaissance Center Theater Company presents an interpretation of the famous play that only touches lightly on the supernatural aspects of the story, focusing instead on the humanity and complex relationships of the characters, particularly Macbeth and Lady Macbeth.
Nathaniel Leonard, a UMass-Amherst doctoral student in English literature, directs this production of Macbeth, whose cast includes Main Street Stage veterans Sean McHugh (pictured right) and Jonathan Turbin (pictured left); experienced Valley actor Walter Carroll; UMass-Amherst students Tom Gostanian and Paul Devlin; Amherst College students Kathryn Libby and Natasha Smith; Amherst Regional Middle School student Gabrielle Holme-Miller; and Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts student Ryan Ross.
Oct. 10-11 and 17-18: 7:30 p.m.; Oct. 12 and 19: 2 p.m., $10/students and seniors, $15/general, Black Box Theatre, Massachusetts Center for Renaissance Studies, 650 East Pleasant St., UMass-Amherst, (413) 577-3600, www.umass.edu/renaissance.
