Rose of Athens Theatre presents 'Macbeth'

Ben Reed pegs himself as the sweetheart. Boyish-looking at 28, the Athens actor has a knack for enlivening characters with kindness, charm and innocence.

So how, then, did Reed - once cast as a 7-year-old Truman Capote - land the part of warrior-turned-mass-murderer Macbeth? Reed, more than anyone, was curious.

"Oh, that's a strong choice," he remembers thinking of the creative statement a younger Macbeth projected. "Why are we making that choice? There's a reason ... I don't often get to play the bad guy."

Leave it to Rose of Athens Theatre to come up with its own answers to "Macbeth," which opens Friday at the Morton Theatre.

Directed by Joelle Ré Arp-Dunham, the professional troupe cast the usurper and his Lady Macbeth on even par with one another.

While other productions of the Shakespeare tragedy have presented an older husband who is vulnerable to the seductive powers of a youthful and ambitious wife, generational balance is more relative today and stays truer to the actual script, the lead actors said.

"This allows for them to lean on each other. One is strong, while the other is weak," Reed says, "It really makes some of the scenes between me and Lady Macbeth (played by Kathleen Hogan) fun to play, because the relationship is so real. It's a common, contemporary relationship."

Their characters are very real, too, Hogan asserts. They have suffered together in the past, love each other and hold on to the future for hope.

Together, the couple plan the overthrow of a king; they argue, they love, and they support each other until their untimely demise.

"It's pretty remarkable, when we start exploring that," Reed says. "It has helped sort of set us apart from other productions I've seen."Arp-Dunham lobbied for "Macbeth" as Rose's first Shakespearean tragedy in its three seasons of stage work in Athens.

The story relates to a victorious general who returns home in time for a prophesy brewed by a trio of witches.

They forecast Macbeth as a new king and his kinsmen's sons as inheriting that fortune.

The plot twists from there.

"It's a different (Shakespearean) script in a lot of ways. Some questions in it are hard to answer," Arp-Dunham says. "We take a stab at it - lots of stabs in the middle, actually. We'll be focusing on the questions of Macbeth, Lady Macbeth and where does this evil come from?"Arp-Dunham's adaptation and scenery play up the mysterious and supernatural aspects of the play with its 11th-century feel.

The action involved also is featured, thanks to Mirla Criste, a University of Georgia theater department assistant professor who teaches acting, voice and movement.

She choreographed all of the fight scenes with the actors, who'll dazzle with broadswords and daggers.

The actors, meanwhile, are focused on the human realities and weaknesses of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. Reed borrows a line that describes his physical approach to character-making.

"I like images and I get as many of them as I can," he says. "You have to fill the 'image well.' "

He buzz-cut his full head of hair and let his beard grow to what he calls "Rasputin" length.

"It's a completely different look for me, one that helps me, actually. It might sound superficial, but it's not. It's like you put on a new pair of shoes. If those shoes have character, you're going to walk a certain way," Reed says.

Hogan, meanwhile, internalized her role, delving into Lady Macbeth's language, history and humanity for her own portrayal of the misunderstood woman.

"It's very exciting. Because a lot of times, Shakespearean women are not written in as much depth as she is," Hogan says. "You can relate. They're real people. She lost a child. She had nothing else really to live for except that she wanted to be in a position of power, hanging on to a desperate goal for life. She just really loved her husband, wanted his love, attention and a good relationship.

"She's just in the throes of emotional trauma, and she's trying desperately to get what she wants out of life."

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