Atmospheric staging and confident acting make Guthrie’s MacBeth worth seeing | By Joanne Rhim Lee (Winter 2026)
The eerie opening scene of the Guthrie Theater’s production of Shakespeare’s Macbeth sets the tone for the rest of the play: The three witches, or Weird Sisters, enter with smoke rising around the edges of the Guthrie’s thrust stage. Their movements are slow and deliberate, like a carefully-coordinated modern dance piece, as they utter the famous lines, “Fair is foul, and foul is fair; hover through the fog and filthy air.”
Even if your knowledge and understanding of Shakespeare’s iconic tragedy is not college-level, this production does an excellent job of highlighting the central themes at the heart of the story; ambition, manipulation, and moral unraveling. Former Guthrie Artistic Director Joe Dowling returned to direct this powerful staging of iconic play, which premiered January 31 and runs until March 22. It’s clear that this is not his first rodeo. Dowling approaches the material with a confident hand, making bold artistic choices in how scenes are staged and selected.
After a victorious battle, Macbeth is praised as a war hero and rewarded with a new title. He is already contemplating the Weird Sisters’ prophecy that he will become king when Lady Macbeth makes her entrance and begins her sly scheming.
As Lady Macbeth, actor Meghan Kreidler is a commanding physical and emotional presence, and she effectively conveys the hold she has over her husband. Her wide, expressive eyes show her initial excitement at the prospect of becoming queen, and her later unraveling into madness.
Macbeth (Daniel José Molina) seems a bit young in this production compared to other iterations of his character depicted on stage and screen. But Molina’s fresh face underscores his character’s initial sincerity and genuine desire to please, and makes his later descent into tyranny feel like a sharper, more startling transformation.
Dowling (and Shakespeare) also inject humor into several tense scenes. In his Guthrie debut as the Sergeant/Seyton, newcomer David Michaeli is a master of physical comedy, wobbling drunkenly in celebration in one scene, and in another, his knees literally knock in fear of Macbeths’ violent temper. In contrast, Guthrie veterans Sun Mee Chomet and Regina Marie Williams add gravitas as the iconic Weird Sisters and other supporting roles, grounding the production with their assured demeanors and voices.
As the premier theater in the Twin Cities, the Guthrie has considerable resources to devote to lighting, set design, and staging, and they are put to excellent use here. Macbeth may be a small man in terms of his moral character, but his presence looms larger than life in shadow, projected on a huge banner behind him. At one point, a beautifully set dinner table rises gracefully on a hidden stage lift, and in another scene, large menacing trees ominously drop from the ceiling. Costume designer Judith Dolan dresses her characters in stunning costumes – from the Weird Sisters’ tattered, flowing garments to Banquo’s ghostly appearance at the formal dinner and Lady Macbeth’s dramatic transformation from plain nightclothes to regal, gorgeous gowns.
All of these elements come together to create a production that is visually striking and emotionally grounded, even for viewers who come in without a deep familiarity of the play. This Macbeth makes Shakespeare feel accessible, urgent, and worth seeing twice.
Macbeth runs at the Guthrie through March 22, 2026.
