‘Macbeth’

Out of Chaos’ ‘Macbeth’ offers charisma, creativity

Brandon Drick

When I heard a company called Out of Chaos was debuting a two-man production of “Macbeth” at Athens’ Morton Theatre, I had to see to believe it. For those unfamiliar with the classic play, Macbeth is this guy who seizes the Scottish throne for a while before finding out a lot of people aren’t happy he did that. With two actors, the play offers some good fun and keeps the audience engaged with its inventive means.

It’s a bit unclear whether the comedy wants to be taken somewhat seriously…

The performing duo of Paul O’Mahony and Troels Hagen Findsen have wonderful chemistry. It was heart-warming to see two friends running through scenes together with such gusto within the theater. They snagged everyone’s attention with an iron grip and elicited the reactions they were going for effortlessly. If a scene called for a laugh, the audience would laugh. In its continuous 80-minute runtime, they didn’t reveal any sign of slowing down. Some scenes were omitted to achieve this and the heavy metal musical interludes (for some reason?) only offered a few moments to prepare for the next scene. The script was fairly true-to-form and Shakespearean dialogue was retained (to my dismay).  This left an inconsistent emphasis on drama. It’s a bit unclear whether the comedy wants to be taken somewhat seriously but I tossed that idea out on the notion of it being a two-man show. You’re frequently caught between distinguishing whether the actors are trying to work a scene up to a joke or retain the classical performance. 

“Macbeth” was as minimalistic as they come, with props scarce and not a costume in sight. O’Mahony and Findsen look nearly identical with their bald heads, matching button-ups and khakis. This should’ve made identifying their roles problematic, but they were resourceful. O’Mahony distinguished himself with his booming voice and heartfelt delivery while Findsen offered something more effeminate and exaggerated. New characters would typically be addressed before scenes continued and the duo would accommodate with subtle tweaks to their performances. A simple slumping of posture, added gruffness to the voice or exaggerated movement did the trick. Even scenes with up to six characters being played simultaneously functioned without any disorientation. For props, there was a table and two stools with the occasional cameo from a lantern. While we would see the classic dining room table set-up, the actors also presented imaginative builds. Stack a stool on the table and they had a throne. When the table was placed on its side, they pushed the stools together and mounted a lantern to create a lookout tower. There were other miscellaneous structures during the show, but I can’t confidently say what they were going for. The effort was nonetheless entrancing. 

Have a scene with the entire Scottish army? No problem. Just strike a superman pose and have one person represent it.

Most of the humor at least got a soft chuckle and it wasn’t without surprises. For example, when a scene called for a messenger, a random audience member would be handed a card to read their line. It was cute enough hearing the awkward delivery the first few times. However, just when it threatened to go stale, an audience member informs Macbeth an army is approaching. Macbeth does a double take towards the card in disbelief before ripping it up. In a scene previously riding on such a dramatic tone, it was completely unexpected. I also loved the scene where Mr./Mrs. Macbeth model themselves like they’re auditioning for Scotland’s next top king and queen after they usurp the throne. Have a scene with the entire Scottish army? No problem. Just strike a superman pose and have one person represent it. This was the humor I wanted more of but got very little. 

The charisma these two brought to such a minimalistic production was impressive. They’re a creative duo who found ways around obvious roadblocks presented by two people performing with virtually nothing. The imagination was inspiring, and I felt like I could have performed this in my own room with a friend. I would have liked them to have emphasized the comedy some more and dial back on the traditional Shakespearean drama. It was still good fun and offered some hilarious twists on the classic play.

To see the trailer for Out of Chaos’ performance, click here.