{"id":11274,"date":"2019-11-22T17:28:27","date_gmt":"2019-11-22T21:28:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/irishexaminerusa.com\/wp\/?p=11274"},"modified":"2019-12-04T17:30:54","modified_gmt":"2019-12-04T21:30:54","slug":"cooking-up-a-confused-mcbeth-scotland-pa-makes-a-mess-of-crime-punishment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/irishexaminerusa.com\/wp\/?p=11274","title":{"rendered":"Cooking Up a Confused McBeth, \u201cScotland, PA\u201d Makes A Mess of Crime & Punishment"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Scotland, PA<\/strong><\/em>
\nClosing Date: Dec. 8, 2019
\nLaura Pels Theater
\n(at the Harold & Miriam Steinberg Center for Theater)
\n111 W. 46th St.
\n212-719-1300<\/p>\n

Music & Lyrics: Adam Gwon
\nBook: Michael Mitnick
\nDirector: Lonny Price
\nChoreographer: Josh Rhodes<\/p>\n

Cast: Jeb Brown (Duncan), Jay Armstrong Johnson (Banko), Taylor Iman Jones (Pat), Megan Lawrence (McDuff), Ryan McCartan (Mac), Will Meyers (Malcolm), Stacey Wonu Ogunfowara, Doug David Rossmer, Jessie Alysha Umphress, Hector Kaleb Wells<\/p>\n

Based on \u201cScotland, PA,\u201d William Morrissette\u2019s 2001 indie cult film, this off-Broadway production sees the action moved from the serious 1600s to the stoned out 1970s, but is actually thoroughly relevant in this ear of ambition at the expense of good sense. In this musical riff on \u201cMacbeth,\u201d Shakespeare\u2019s story of political power plays gone awry gets re-imagined as a humorous commentary on greed and fast-food mania. In this Pennsylvania town (an actual place, who knew), slacker Joe McBeth, known as Mac (played by slightly awry Ryan McCartan, \u201cHeathers \u2014 The Musical\u201d), fields his innovations for struggling burger joint Duncan\u2019s (like a drive-through window — can you believe that!) to asshole boss Duncan (Jeb Brown, \u201cBeautiful\u201d) who obviously squashes them. But Pat, Mac\u2019s wife (Taylor Iman Jones, \u201cGroundhog Day\u201d), who also works there, does mind. And she ain\u2019t taking it lying down.<\/p>\n

This version reworks McBeth\u2019s dramatic plot points into a criminalized song-&-dance dramedy. Such hybrid predecessors as \u201cLittle Shop of Horrors\u201d and \u201cSweeney Todd\u201d were also based on other media properties and they also used murder as a musical comedy device, but they were base on more traditional music heard in stage productions. Well-sung and acted by a capable cast who generally avoids overplaying the over-the-top characters, Composer Adam Gwon\u2019s music and lyrics have a classic-rock core that drives them.<\/p>\n

For example, in \u201cWhat We\u2019ve Got,\u201d The smoky-voiced Jones as Pat reveals her frustrations with the situation: \u201cYou want one more night eatin\u2019 from cans?\u201d she sings. \u201cYou could be someone makin\u2019 great big plans.\u201d And in \u201cEverybody\u2019s Hungry,\u201d Mac concurs, \u201cTime to get in on the chase\/Shoutin\u2019 to the cosmos\/Like I own the whole damn place.\u201d<\/p>\n

Those frustrations result in a nefarious though justified criminal response. Once murder takes place \u2014 though unintentionally \u2014 the ascent and inexorable descent of Mac and his mate result. Along the way, little side character developments occur \u2014 some enhancing the story, some not so much.<\/p>\n

When the steps to hamburger heaven and franchise possibilities \u2014and the incumbent riches \u2014 lead to crime, the principals try to place blame elsewhere. A homeless man (David Rossmer), gets framed for Duncan\u2019s murder. So does Duncan\u2019s son Malcolm (Will Meyers), a high school student who\u2019d rather play football (for secret reasons) than inherit the fast-food \u201ckingdom.\u201d Though this Malcolm tracks nicely with the one in \u201cMacbeth,\u201d this \u201cBanko\u201d (Jay Armstrong Johnson) doesn\u2019t really line up with Banquo. Here, a dim but ingratiating co-worker of the McBeths called Banko \u2014 that is, Anthony Banconi \u2014 is tricked into providing them an alibi. That in turn generates a number called \u201cKick-Ass Party,\u201d in which he adopts his full long-haired surfer-dudeism to make it happen.<\/p>\n

When the detective who is finally sent to investigate arrives at the end of Act 1, Peg McDuff only tangentially relates to Shakespeare\u2019s Macduff \u2014 and unlike the movie\u2019s detective (who was played by Christopher Walken) \u2014 this one\u2019s a woman. So when detective McDuff (Megan Lawrence) appears, she happens to be, to no one surprise, a vegetarian which further aligns the story within the realm of burger empire building rather than in an actual kingdom like the classic play.<\/p>\n

With the burger biz spotlighted this is a case study in ambition gone awry \u2014 not only drawing on Big Will\u2019s MacBeth but also referencing the actual story of macDonald\u2019s evolution from a local burger joint to the corporate colossus it became.<\/p>\n

Though entertaining, \u201cScotland, PA\u201d suffers from some structural missteps and lots of logical lapses such how they go from hatred to murder. Maybe that\u2019s because the transition from such a serious Shakespearean classic to this sometimes silly, over-the-top transposition doesn\u2019t always make it quite make sense.<\/p>\n

But one of the best twists to this weirdo update that McBeth\u2019s three witches, who add a touch of the creepy in the original, are transformed here into pot-puffing hippies \u2014 Jessie, Hector, and Stacey (Alysha Umphress, Kaleb Wells, and Wonu Ogunfowora) an amusing set of narrators who suffer from a perpetual case of the munchies.<\/p>\n

Offering a balance between silly and serious, it makes its points with a modesty not quite befitting a show that is targeting Broadway. That\u2019s more than can be said for Shakespeare, whose overt efforts at psychological profundity got unintentionally over-the-top without having a stoner or two in the story line. For anyone who loves a show looking for its cult, catch this before it closes in any case.<\/p>\n

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