Sarasota's Asolo Conservatory stages 'Macbeth'

"Macbeth" is one of William Shakespeare's best-known plays, but Jonathan Epstein said it's also one of his most misunderstood.

"There are some things about the play that, when you look at the play, they're different than you expect," he said.

Epstein is the resident Shakespeare expert at Sarasota's FSU/Asolo Conservatory for Actor Training, and he's directing the conservatory's production of "Macbeth" which opens Wednesday.

The question he had to ask while staging the Scottish play, he said, is "How do you give audiences something that they will recognize as 'Macbeth,' but that is still true to the script?"

Another challenge is the play's famous bloodiness. "Stage blood is either too much or too little," he said. "Too much and it becomes funny. Too little and you don't get a sense of the violence."

The second-year acting students at the conservatory have been proving adept at bringing new life to Shakespeare's words, Epstein said, and there's clever design work that makes the violence obvious without overstating it.

Details: Feb. 24-March 13, Cook Theatre at the FSU Center for the Performing Arts, 5555 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota. Show times: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday, 8 p.m. Friday-Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday. Tickets: $28 matinee, $29 evening. Information: 941-351-8000, asolorep.org.

-- Marty Clear

This story was originally published February 17, 2016 at 5:35 PM with the headline "Sarasota's Asolo Conservatory stages 'Macbeth' ."