Don’t Say “Macbeth”!

By Burton Bumgarner
Widely flexible cast from 9 to 40
Eldridge Plays and Musicals

A poor student is struggling to read Shakespeare’s great tragedy, “Macbeth,” while in a coffee shop next door to a theater. The student gets a study boost from waitress, who was an English major, and four customers, who are actors, as they act out the Scottish tragedy in fast-paced farce. Soon, a pompous actor who has just finished a Shakespeare matinee next door, enters and tells of the “Scottish curse,” and all of the unfortunate events that surround the play’s past productions. Actors portray characters throughout history including Shakespeare, King James, Abraham Lincoln, Orson Welles, and Charlton Heston. Here is a wild and wacky way to enjoy both the story and the curse of the “Scottish tragedy.” The script can be performed by as few as 9 actors, or as many as 40, or any number in between.