In a fresh interpretation of Shakespeare’s classic tragedy, Director Andi Chapman reveals the human side of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, portraying their descent into darkness as stemming from grief over the loss of a child rather than inherent monstrosity.
“People do not see Lady Macbeth and Macbeth as human beings,” Chapman explains in a recent interview about her production at A Noise Within theater in Pasadena. “My first illumination is that they’re human and that they made a human mistake out of a place of grief from the loss of a child.”
This provocative reading of the Scottish play doesn’t soften its bloody impact or excuse its protagonists’ murderous ambition. Rather, it adds psychological depth to characters often portrayed as simply villainous. By grounding their moral descent in universal human experience, Chapman creates a more nuanced tragedy that speaks to contemporary audiences.
Shakespeare’s text offers subtle support for this interpretation. Lady Macbeth famously says, “I have given suck, and know how tender ’tis to love the babe that milks me” – a line from the original play suggesting a mother who has experienced parenthood, though no living Macbeth children appear in the story. This textual hint becomes the emotional foundation of Chapman’s production.
“Every human being has choices to make in the midst of their grief and how they replace their grief with something that is good for everyone or not,” Chapman observes. “In this play, they don’t make those choices correctly.”
The director, whose previous work includes adaptations of “Native Son” and “The Bluest Eye,” has built her career exploring complex psychological and social themes. This production continues that exploration, examining how grief can warp judgment and moral reasoning.
By setting the play in New Orleans from the late 19th to early 20th century, Chapman creates a rich cultural backdrop that amplifies the play’s supernatural elements while keeping its human story center stage.
“Well, it’s the late 19th century going into the early 20th century, and I just like New Orleans,” she explains. “I think that in that timeframe in the 1870s, before 1877, is a little time where every race of people was in Louisiana working together during a time of reconstruction.”
Chapman emphasizes that her setting choice was deliberate and meaningful: “I’m not interested in any kind of racial sectioning of that particular moment in time. I’m interested in the togetherness of every race in that time where it’s perfect and beautiful, where everyone worked together. It seemed like a shining light moment in the world.”
The New Orleans setting also provides a natural framework for the play’s supernatural elements. “I just thought it lent itself very well to the Macbeth and to the whole thought of witches and darkness and civil war.”
Working alongside dramaturg Miranda Johnson-Haddad, Chapman navigates the challenge of making Shakespeare’s language accessible while maintaining its power. “I’m a storyteller, an actor-director, and I was interested in illuminating the text,” she explains. “We are leaning into the humanity of the story.”
This approach transforms familiar scenes into fresh territory. When Macbeth speaks of “the false creation, the dagger of the mind,” his hallucinations become manifestations of unresolved grief rather than simply guilt over his crimes. Lady Macbeth’s obsessive hand-washing becomes not just an expression of guilt but a ritualistic attempt to cleanse herself of the pain that preceded her crimes.
The witches, reimagined through New Orleans’ rich spiritual traditions, function less as external corruptors and more as catalysts revealing the couple’s existing vulnerability. Their prophecies fall on hearts already broken by loss and susceptible to promises of power as compensation.
“It’s a thriller. It’s scary in some places, it’s audacious in other places,” Chapman says of her production. “It’s just fun. I really want the audience to be able to understand it. I mean, everybody knows about the spirit of New Orleans. There’s no Mardi Gras in it at all. I hope people understand that Louisiana has a very, very rich, deep history, more than Mardi Gras.”
If Chapman’s greatest directorial challenge is humanizing Shakespeare’s most notorious villains without absolving them, her success lies in making their downfall feel both preventable and inevitable. The production suggests that under different circumstances—had they processed their grief differently—the Macbeths might have avoided their tragic end.
“I’m hoping that the audience sees the humanity of the story,” Chapman says when asked about her intended takeaway. “That they’re not necessarily monsters, but coming from a place of grief.”
This vision of the play speaks to universal questions about how we respond to loss. Do we, like the Macbeths, allow grief to isolate us until we see others merely as obstacles or tools? Or do we find healthier paths forward?
In Chapman’s hands, Shakespeare’s centuries-old tragedy becomes not just a story about the corrupting influence of power but a cautionary tale about grief mishandled and the human capacity for both tremendous compassion and terrible cruelty.
For viewers familiar with more traditional interpretations of the Scottish play, Chapman’s humanized villains promise a thought-provoking reimagining of one of theater’s most enduring works.
The show is onstage at A Noise Within until March 9. For more information and tickets, click here.
