Review: 'Macbeth,' 'Tempest' among plays staged for free at parks around the Sound

Rain or shine, this summer's array of free outdoor Shakespeare performances are drawing crowds at local parks. Recently we caught up with al fresco offerings by the classical troupes Wooden O and Greenstage.

'Macbeth'

This timeless tale of ruthless political ambition is one of Shakespeare's most action-packed tragedies. And Wooden O's streamlined open-air production doesn't dillydally a bit.

No sooner have the wild-child weird sisters in Tim Hyland's vigorous staging beguiled the warrior Macbeth than all hell is breaking loose in the Scottish court.

Garbed in black leather kilts and wielding heavy swords with plenty of clank, a compact cast led by Reginald Andre Jackson as Macbeth and Tracy Hyland as his anguished, childless wife grab the play by the scruff — and take the audience along for the ride.

There are a few clashes of acting style in this condensation: Not all players equal the nuanced, conversational verse readings of the haunted, imploding Jackson, or Shawn Belyea's cool MacDuff, or gifted newcomer Robert Hinds as Macbeth's doomed pal Banquo. Harry Todd Jamieson's young Malcolm shouts his way through a critical scene that nearly vaporizes at such volume.

But overall, this mobile version gallops along, capturing in broad but vivid strokes the timeless horror and dark wisdom of the Bard's murderous saga. It may well whet the appetite for a more complete staging of the work, or a close reading of the text.

Misha Berson, Seattle Times theater critic

'The Tempest'

Prospero, the rightful but usurped Duke of Milan and a masterful magician, literally conjures up a storm in "The Tempest."

But it was Seattle's goofy summer weather that found a sizable audience enduring a chilling drizzle on Sunday for Greenstage's engaging outdoor production.

No one seemed to mind, and it helped that several actors knew exactly when and how much they could draw the crowd into the action.

At one point, actor Daniel Wood, sharp as a tack as the drunken butler Stephano, sat with some picnicking observers and ate their food. In his comically impulsive and self-deprecating turn, Wood's ironic breach of the fourth wall became a special moment.

Shakespeare's "Tempest" has enough dark motivations among its more villainous personnel for two or three tragedies. Yet all conspiratorial talk of murder, power-grabbing and revenge are subsumed by the larger story of Prospero's wizardly machinations to return to Milan and reclaim his title.

Yet it's impossible to know until the end where Prospero (an authoritative, touching Ken Holmes) is actually going with his designs. Those include shipwrecking his scheming brother (nice work by Gianni Truzzi); marrying off his daughter (Alyssa Kay) to a prince (Matthew Fulbright) she's just met; and dragging out a promise to the spirit Ariel (an equally sensuous and ethereal Gina Marie Russell) to free her from servitude.

With Prospero controlling the action (much like a playwright shaping his tale), there is room for other characters to be wicked, fearful, lustful or ridiculous without spiraling out to a dire fate.

Director Michael D. Blum and the cast appreciate that limit and explore all the possibilities without losing a sense of proportion (though a few bars of Sir Mix-A-Lot's "Baby Got Back" might be pushing things).

Tom Keogh, special to The Seattle Times

Information in this article, originally published July 19, 2011, was corrected July 20, 2011. A previous version of this story spelled "Tempest" actor Gianni Truzzi's name wrong.