We did it.

November 3, 2021

From the Macbeth at the Workroom Archives (Seed&Spark)

We saw Macbeth through to the end. 

I walked out to center stage after our bows on Sunday afternoon not really knowing what I was going to say, but certain that I wanted to thank people in-person. However, the first thing that came out of my mouth was the realization that 6 months ago, this project was a little seed in my brain. It was the audience - all those eyes staring out at us above cloth masks - that made me realize the power of one dream: the row of Smithies forming hearts with their hands, the group of Columbia MFA students who had roadtripped from NYC, the extended families of cast members, couples, Shakespeare celebrities, friends from my days as a farmer, contributors I had not yet met in-person. It is truly an honor to invite people to share in a collective experience.

But I must say, one of the moments that gave me the most joy over the past week, was handing individual checks to each member of our small cast and crew after our Halloween performance. 

Thank you for making that happen.

It is never really about the money, but actors (and artists of all types) must be compensated for all that they do to keep our community together. Perhaps the coolest thing about all this is that the money for this production went directly from you to the actors - they received exactly what we had budgeted for their compensation, and then some. Because I had set aside so much money for Covid safety that we didn't end up needing, I was able to cover more transportation and actor expenses than I had originally anticipated.

I have also heard from a few people who were in the audience. 

“This production...no gimmicks or concept, just Shakespeare’s words with actors talking to each other, and a director’s light touch delivering an ever-captivating story. Therein lies the power.”

- Deanna Dunmyer

“I am Deb, a PhD student in the department of Economics at UMass, and I am from India. During my high school, I took courses on Shakespeare for two years and Macbeth was one of my favorites. So, when I saw a poster in one of the stores at Main Street, I knew I had to attend this! It was an absolute pleasure to watch the performance of your team last Saturday. I really liked your choice of not using any props for the play. The soliloquy of Lady Macbeth and some of the acts of Joe Cardazo were outstanding. Best wishes for your future endeavors. I look forward to seeing more such performances in the near future.” -Debamanyu Das

“As good a performance as I've ever seen - u deserve a lot of kudos for putting it on.

Macbeth had a special meaning for me 'cos it was the play assigned to us in my senior year and on which we were examined 70 years ago to graduate. Your show was much more meaningful at 85 than at 15 when I first read it.”

-Bosco Cardozo (Banquo's father)

We are currently sifting through all the photos that were taken. I will post them here once they are ready.

Please stay in touch.

Now, on to the next tiny seed...

With gratitude, Hilary