Credit: Shakespeare’s Globe.

“Out, out, brief candle!” With the theatre dark and the stage lit, spooky singing was the order of the day for Shakespeare’s Macbeth at the reconstructed Globe Theatre. For most of those in the History FSP group, it was the first time seeing the Scottish Play and, while the new Globe is known more for its ambience than its theatrical brilliance, the production was entertaining, albeit with a few too many Trump references thrown in.

The burly, militaristic portrayal of the Thane of Cawdor’s slow descent into madness and the almost naive-seeming King Malcolm set an eerie slate for the tragedy of Scotland, while the operatic rendition of the witches’ songs and the madness alit betwixt them and Lady Macbeth cut through the somber atmosphere of the performance with an electric tempestuousness.

While not all the group stayed throughout the performance (“My hands are of your color, but I shame/To wear a heart so white,” perhaps?), those that did were treated to a dramatic conclusion and, for some, an enjoyable conversational recap on the tube ride back to Hampden House.

The choice of grey coats was interesting; while not as loaded a motif as it is in the United States, the Confederacy imagery was hard to ignore. Do with that as you will.