THE STORY: Gathering experience before tackling the “big time” in New York, director Larry Rencher has decided to undertake Macbeth, drawing on his faithful (and generally hammy) cadre of local theatre buffs. The role of Lady Macbeth is assigned to Dolly Dibble (whose husband owns the theatre) with the other parts being parceled out with similar logic. As rehearsals begin, so do the hilarious complications and misunderstandings until, harried and out of patience, the director storms off in a huff—leaving matters in the hands of the meddlesome newcomer whose “suggestions” have been a thorn in his side. As they will, things then go from bad to worse, until the director is wooed into returning and (despite the fact that Dolly’s tipsy husband gets his head stuck in the witches’ cauldron) somehow everything gets pulled together in time for the fateful moment of opening night.
Fast moving and outrageously funny, this delightful play traces the trials and tribulations of a community theatre production of MACBETH, from casting, to rehearsals, to the breathless deadline of opening night.
