A message from OACT Artistic Director, Richard Camp...

We are fortunate indeed to have one of the foremost Shakespeare scholars and directors in the country living right here in Ojai, and when we discussed his possible approach to Shakespeare’s homage to blood, treachery and deceit, Michael Addison exhilarated me with a decidedly au courant approach to the Scottish play. His vision lifts this historic tale out of its set-in-amber past and slams it face first into today’s zeitgeist.  Filled with witches and ghosts, soldiers and statesmen, murderers and madmen, plus one hellhound of a Lady who stops at nothing to get what she bloody wants, this play lives, breathes and rages on the stage, full of sound and fury that persists in its timeless resistance to unbridled power.

A message from director Michael Addison on his vision for the play...

Macbeth is often called The Scottish Play but perhaps it should be termed the The Power Play instead. In my view, power struggles are at the center of the play and our production seeks to explore the lust for power as the driving central action. The King fights to hold onto power, Macbeth secretly lusts for power, Lady Macbeth uses her wiles to drive him to kill for power, and, ultimately, Malcolm raises an army to regain power. Forget the nobility of kings, forget fine words and protestations of the host and hostess, forget the simple innocence of the slaughtered Lady Macduff. Focus instead on how the Witches, creatures who are in touch with the Spirit World, bring to
the surface raw struggles for power, unlocking the beast within, revealing the dark forces beneath the posturing surface.

Does this resonate with what we are experiencing as a nation? I hope so.

The cast...

RON FELTNER AS MACBETH...

Ron Feltner is from Ventura and has appeared in some 50-odd(sometimes very odd) plays. He has studied theatre in both Ventura and SanFrancisco State University. Some of his favorite roles have included, Anthony in Outside Mullingar(Sta Paula Theater Center), Nick in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?(Flying H) , George in Of Mice and Men(Ojai art Center),Eddie in Fool for Love(Flying H), and Roma in Glenngary Glen Ross(Sta Paula). He is beyond excited to work with Michael Addison in Mac Beth. It's like taking a master class in Shakespeare. Being able to work once again with the best acting partner (Jessi May Stevenson) he's ever met, makes this experience truly wonderful.

JESSI MAY STEVENSON AS LADY MACBETH...

Jessi May Stevenson received her Masters of Fine Arts in Theater from UC Irvine where she was the recipient of the Chancellor's Full Ride Scholarship Award. She also studied at Harvard University with the Moscow Art Theater and The American Repertory Theater in Boston. Before moving to Ojai, she performed in the world premiere of The Beard of Avon at the South Coast Repertory Theater. In Los Angeles, she played such parts as Ophelia in Hamlet, with The Ethos Theater Company, Helena in Midsummer Night's Dream, and Kate in Taming of the Shrew. Since moving to Ojai four years ago, she has played Viola in Twelfth Night and Curly's Wife in Of Mice and Men at The Ojai Arts Center. Other local theater credits include May in Fool For Love, Brooke in Other Desert Cities, Aimee in The Night Alive, and Rosemary in Outside Mullingar, all at The Santa Paula Theater Center. Last year she was thrilled to direct Becky's New Car and later this year will be directing True West, at The Santa Paula Theater Center.

The full cast for Macbeth is:
MACBETH – Ron Feltner
LADY MACBETH – Jessi May Stevenson
LADY MACDUFF – Jolene Rae Harrington
MACDUFF – Richard Kuhlman
MACDUFF’S SON – Coree Kotula
DUNCAN – Daniel Ruark
MALCOLM – Byron Hays
DONALBAIN – James Baker
BANQUO – Nigel Chisholm
FLEANCE – Taylor Wilson
SEYTON (A PORTER) – Bill Spellman
ROSS – Susan Kelejian
LENNOX – Eric Andersen
THE DOCTOR – Lynn Van Emmerik
A LADY – Susanna Joselyn Johansen
CAPTAIN – Clayton McLannock
SIWARD – John Valenzuela
YOUNG SIWARD – Eric Andersen
WITCHES – Anna Kotula, Denise Heller, Aaliyah Mora-Khan
WILD CHILD -- Coree Kotula
MURDERERS – Leonard Klaif, James Baker, Daniel Ruark