‘I think a lot of women (who play Lady Macbeth) have to bring this masculine energy to it. But because I am a man with that masculine energy (my job is) to find what that feminine energy is,” Adam Poss says of his role as Lady M  for the DCPA Theatre Company. Video by John Moore and David Lenk for the DCPA NewsCenter.

‘When you see someone like me playing Macbeth, already you are getting a different energy, look and feel.’

By John Moore
Senior Arts Journalist

In one way, Director Robert O’Hara is telling the tale of Macbeth just as Shakespeare did — with an all-male cast. Not that anyone will mistake O’Hara’s staging with anything resembling Shakespeare as it was presented in Jacobean times.

O’Hara is telling the tale for the DCPA Theatre Company from the point of view of a coven of shamanic warlocks. In his world, these warlocks are getting together years after the actual story and are now performing Macbeth as a kind of passion play. So the storytellers are all necessarily male.

But Adam Poss, the acclaimed Chicago actor playing Lady Macbeth, believes the female voice will come through loud and clear through this unusual telling, which he says is at once both historic and futuristic. “It’s a great combination of old and new, and we’re going to freak people out a little bit,” he said with a laugh. 

The strongest women of the time were polar opposites and deadly rivals, Poss said: “You have Queen Elizabeth and Mary Queen of Scots and they both represented very different ideas of who women were. Queen Elizabeth was the virgin and Mary Queen of Scots was  bloodthirsty.” Lady Macbeth was more of the latter, clawing her way to a place of power in the only way a woman could: Through her husband. “She could not be out there fighting, and taking on a kinship on her own,” Poss said, “But she can make  things happen in her own way behind the scenes.”

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Poss said it will be both useful and relevant for a contemporary audience to see the story with women and witches who have facial hair. 

“I think as we move forward, things are less binary in terms of what it means to be a man and a woman,” he said. “Just because this is a company of men does not mean that there cannot be intimacy between men.

“At its heart, yes, Macbeth  is a play about ambition and being bloodthirsty and taking people on to achieve what you want. But it’s also about a marriage, and a husband and wife doesn’t necessarily have to be a man and a woman. There can be partnerships between men that have love and care and tenderness but also violence and aggression and manipulation. That’s just human.”  

Adam Poss with his castmates at the first rehearsal for ‘Macbeth.’ Photo by John Moore for the DCPA NewsCenter

Adam Poss: At a glance
At the Denver Center: Debut. Other regional credits: Macbeth (Actor’s Theatre of Louisville), 2666, Teddy Ferrara, A Christmas Carol, The Magic Play, The Solid Sand Below (Goodman Theatre), Lot’s Wife (Kansas City Rep), The North Pool, The Lake Effect (TheatreWorks, Palo Alto) Other credits: 1984, Animals Out of Paper (Steppenwolf Theatre), The History Boys (Studio Theatre, D.C.). Oedipus el Rey, Queen (Victory Gardens Theater); The Lake Effect, Scorched (Silk Road Rising); The Beats (16th Street Theater). Television: Shameless, Empire, Chicago Med, Chicago Fire, Chicago PD, Crisis, The Chicago Code, The Mob Doctor. Film: The Middle Distance, The Drunk, The King of URLS, Speed Dating.

Macbeth: Ticket information
At a glance: Forget what you know about Shakespeare’s brutal tragedy. Director Robert O’Hara breathes new life (and death) into this raw reimagining for the grand reopening of The Space Theatre. To get what he wants, Macbeth will let nothing stand in his way – not the lives of others or his own well-being. As his obsession takes command of his humanity and his sanity, the death toll rises and his suspicions mount. This ambitious reinvention reminds us that no matter what fate is foretold, the man that chooses to kill must suffer the consequences.

• Presented by the DCPA Theatre Company
• First performance Sept. 15, through Oct. 29
• Space Theatre, Denver Performing Arts Complex
• Tickets start at $25
• Call 303-893-4100 or BUY ONLINE
• Sales to groups of 10 or more click here

Macbeth: Previous DCPA NewsCenter coverage
Video: Ariel Shafir on the young new warrior face of Macbeth
The masculinity of Macbeth
Macbeth at a time when everything is shifting
Cast announced for Robert O’Hara’s reimagined Macbeth
Video, photos: Our coverage of the Space Theatre opening

Making of Macbeth: Full photo gallery:

Photos from the making of Robert O’Hara’s ‘Macbeth’ for the DCPA Theatre Company. To see more, hover your cursor over the image above and click the forward arrow that appears. Photos by John Moore for the DCPA NewsCenter.