RENEGADE THEATRE EXPERIMENT PRESENTS William Shakespeare's Macbeth, produced in partnership with City Lights Theater Company.

Murder, blood, witchcraft, and obsession drive William Shakespeare's darkest and most intriguing play. Macbeth, incited by his wife, succumbs to the desire for power and performs the terrible act of assassination. The consequences of this act, and further sins, propel each of them into a personal and solitary hell. Witness the blood-soaked tale of ambition fueled by madness and sexuality!

San Jose, CA, (PRWEB) March 18, 2004 -- Renegade Theatre Experiment (RTE)-in collaboration with City Lights Theatre Company-proudly presents William Shakespeare's timeless tale of vaulting ambition. Macbeth previews on April 15 and runs April 16-17, 21-24, 29-30, and closes on May 1. All performances begin at 8:00pm at City Lights in downtown San Jose.

As a part of City Lights's Spotlight Series, Renegade Theatre's production of Macbeth kicks off RTE's thrilling third season with a dark and bloody story of political intrigue, war, and supernatural horror. Shakespeare's potent poetry-full of sound and fury-signifies the corrupting influence of power in defiance of natural order. Shakespeare's themes resonate as strongly now in an election year-as four hundred years ago.

Murder, blood, witchcraft, and obsession drive Shakespeare's darkest and most intriguing play. Scottish thane Macbeth (Tom Gough) takes to heart the prophecy of three tempting witches: that he will rule Scotland. Spurred on by Lady Macbeth (Leah Herman), the celebrated soldier takes matters into his own bloody hands, assassinating King Duncan (Nicolae Muntean). The consequences of this act, and further sins, propel each of them into a personal and solitary hell. Likewise, Scotland spirals into madness and chaos when no one can be trusted and murder is the order of the day. One of the Bard's most fast-paced plays speeds to the inevitable showdown of the crazed usurper and the armies backing the rightful heir.

Director Russ Marcel has this to say: "I hope to highlight the paradoxical elements: 'Fair is foul and foul is fair,' the natural and unnatural, good and evil. I also hope to further develop the typically nondescript roles of the witches. As the instruments of evil in the play, they'll make surprising and non-traditional appearances. I'm basically here to provide the framework for the very talented cast to spill their guts on stage -- in a safe and humane way, of course. Oh yeah, and it gets very bloody, and there's some kick-ass fights."

Tom Gough, who plays Macbeth, also serves as artistic director of City Lights. "We at City Lights are delighted to be collaborating with Renegade on this very exciting project," Gough says. "City Lights has a long history of collaborating with other small companies, including
Theatre Rhinoceros and Teatro Vision, and Macbeth was a project City Lights had been considering. So when Renegade announced their production of Macbeth and the desire to expand their season, we saw an ideal opportunity to benefit both companies."

Tickets for Macbeth are $15.00 General Admission (Wednesdays and Thursdays) and $18.00 General Admission (Fridays and Saturdays). Students and teachers, seniors, City Lights Season Subscribers, and Theatre Bay Area members qualify for discount tickets ($10/$12) with valid ID. NOTE: Wednesday, April 21, 2003, is a benefit performance for
Theatre Bay Area's Lemonade Fund. The Lemonade Fund is a confidential resource for theatre workers with terminal or life-threatening illnesses who are in need of supplemental financial assistance to improve the quality of their lives as they deal with medical conditions.

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The Renegade Theatre Experiment (RTE) was founded in 2001 by a group of Santa Clara University alumni to bring edgy and entertaining new shows to the San Jose theatre community.

Publicity photos: http://www.renegadetheatre.com/press/index.html

Contact:    Whitney Stebbins
      408-351-4440
      wstebbins@renegadetheatre.com

AN INVITATION TO THE MEDIA

Renegade Theatre Experiment proudly invites you
to attend our preview performance of
William Shakespeares Macbeth,
presented in partnership with City Lights Theater Company.

Macbeth by William Shakespeare
April 15, 2004

City Lights Theatre
529 South Second Street
San José, California 95112.

8:00 PM

This is a public preview with a paying audience.