After 10 weeks of long rehearsals and late nights, Urban’s fall production, “Macbeth,” opened on Nov. 12 and ran for five days.

“Macbeth” is a William Shakespeare classic that follows Scottish general and Thane Macbeth (Lawson Smith ’26) after he receives a prophecy from three witches (Katie Carroll ’27, Natalie Babler-Kuebler ’27, Edina Meckfessel ’27). Macbeth’s ambition to gain power overtakes him, and he murders his adversaries in an effort to seize the throne and later keep his title as king. 

Students read “Macbeth” as part of the English 2B curriculum, meaning about 50% of students had read the play when the fall production opened. 

“My hope is that … the chunk of the school who have read it will [have] … a greater baseline understanding of what’s happening, so they can see the fun details and Urban touches that we’re putting onto it,” said Maya Herbsman ’13, drama teacher and director of “Macbeth.” “I hope that it invites audiences to a deeper familiarity with the play and that perhaps we can introduce some ideas they wouldn’t have necessarily come to just from reading it.”

Smith emphasized that audience members can engage with the themes in the play, regardless of their familiarity with the story. “If we, as actors, can maintain that emotional clarity, then the weight of the words should still be very clear,” Smith said. “It should be understandable, … even if not every single plot detail is understood.”

Performing Shakespeare pushed the cast’s acting abilities to another level. They spoke in Shakespearean English and spent time outside of class analyzing the play and adapting their acting to fit their interpretations. “Shakespeare … challenges me as an actor. I’ve never done it before, … [but] I do like the struggle,” said Laia Trachtenberg ’26, who played Banquo. “[‘Macbeth’ gave] me an outlet to put everything else aside … and focus on something that I’m passionate about.”

“Macbeth” will be the first Shakespeare production the theater department has put on since winter 2014. In recent years, most fall productions have been contemporary adaptations rather than traditional stage plays. “I invite audiences to give Shakespeare a chance. I think people see Shakespeare as stuffy, but there’s a reason we’re still doing his work hundreds of years later,” Herbsman said. “It’s every bit as exciting and interesting and engaging as your favorite TV drama.”

Herbsman decided to do a Shakespeare play after consulting with the cast about their preferences. The actors chose “Macbeth” in part for its themes. “One of the things I find interesting about ‘Macbeth’ is how it explores power and ambition and how those things corrupt [people]. That, to me, feels so resonant with the world we are living in today,” Herbsman said.

“Macbeth” helped usher in a new era for Urban theater as the second production and first play in the new Performing Arts + Community Center (PACC). The PACC stage is much larger than the former blackbox performance space in Gumption Theater, so students on theater tech spent more time building the set and operating sound and lighting. 

Production manager Harper Lind ’27 helped with lighting, sound, creating the set and making props for the show. “It’s more work even just to do the same level [of tech] as we were doing in Gumption, but [in the PACC] there’s just more we can do. We’re trying to do tech to that level, … but it’s also still a lot of work and it’s a lot of coordinating,” they said.

At the start of the term, actors spend four hours a week on the production and slowly ramp up to spending close to 30 hours or more in the final weeks. “[You’re] spending 12 weeks with each other, interacting with each other, seeing each other and running lines. You definitely build deeper connections with students that you haven’t talked to prior,” Trachtenberg said.

Audiences are not always aware of the work that went into the production. “The students are really dedicated. … Our cast [is] giving up E periods, T periods and lunches,” Herbsman said. “Then, on the backstage side, it’s huge because those students aren’t in the [official] class. They have no class time, so [they’re] working in the evenings, on the weekends and during the school day.”

The students’ hard work culminated in the fall production. “As a director, I think just seeing so many different humans come together to make an exciting piece of theater is always thrilling,” Herbsman said. “We [created] some really cool scenes, images, fights [and] costumes on this one that I’m hoping will really blow folks away.”

Cast list:

Andrew Yost-Brody ’26 — Duncan/Doctor/Macduff’s Son/Third Apparition

Ari Braverman ’27 — Malcolm

Asher Albers ’26 — Lennox

Daphne Yeh Gilman ’26 — Lady Macbeth

Edina Meckfessel ’27 — Third Witch/Third Murderer

Jack/Junie Froyd-Kamrath ’26 — Ross/Second Apparition

Jackson Moore ’28 — Captain/Siward

Katie Carroll ’27 — First Witch/First Murderer

Laia Trachtenberg ’26 — Banquo

Lawson Smith ’26 — Macbeth

Lila Kessler ’27 — Lady Macduff/Young Siward/Lord/First Apparition

Natalie Babler Kuebler ’27 — Second Witch/Second Murderer

Penny Ellison ’27 — Hecate/Caithness/Gentlewoman

Ro March ’27 — Macduff/Macdonwald

Zoya Sarangan ’26— Old Man/Porter/Seyton

Tali Siegel ’28 — Donalbain/Fléance/Messenger/Menteith