One of the signature lines of Shakespeare’s tragedy, Macbeth is “Is this a dagger I see before me?” In traditional productions of the play, only the actor playing Macbeth can envision that dagger. But thanks to advanced digital technology the audience for Umbrella GroupTheatre’s new production can say, “Why yes, that is a dagger you see before you.”
The production takes place in an unusual space for Shakespeare: Marquette’s MARVL lab, which is the visualization lab in the school of engineering. It's not quite Star Trek's holodeck, but "I really thought that with this video and graphic capability to sort of make things appear and disappear, and the ability to float thing in midair, Macbeth was such a great choice for that because there is so much supernatural," says director Bo Johnson.
Johnson directs, Todd Denning and Libby Amato star, and Chris Larkee designed and runs the virtual reality elements of Macbeth. The show opens April 7th, and runs through the 21st at Marquette University’s MARVL lab space in the School of Engineering on West Wisconsin Avenue.
