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'Macbeth' Turned Into Tale of Torture by Theater Troupe

By Nikhita Venugopal | July 18, 2014 1:42pm | Updated on July 21, 2014 8:57am
 Inspired by Shakespeare's "Macbeth," four actors will perform a nightmarish version of the play at Court Tree next month.
'The Witches'
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CARROLL GARDENS — Some dinner parties want you to RSVP. For this one, you’d best send an R.I.P.

The Witches” — an interactive adaptation of William Shakespeare’s "Macbeth" — is inviting horror-loving theatergoers to a gallery on Court Street for a nightmarish performance of the Bard’s play, by a new theater group. 

Audience members playing the role of unsuspecting invitees will arrive promptly at 8 p.m. to snack on light fare and mingle with three witches, who will host a normal-seeming dinner party in the Court Tree Collective gallery, made to look like a comfortable apartment.

But once the play begins a half hour later, the normalcy is smashed and the seemingly serene Carroll Gardens apartment becomes a physical and emotional torture chamber for the witches to attack Macbeth, played by actor Danny Morrison.

“We all feel that Macbeth is kind of the original horror story,” said Giverny Petitmermet, who plays one of the witches alongside actresses Sarah Moore and Mara Gannon. The trio also play the roles of almost every other character in the original play.

“The punishment is to relive his story over and over again,” Petitmermet said.

The gallery serves as the perfect setting for the performance, which will be staged Aug. 18, 24 and 25, allowing the actors to create an interactive and immersive performance, organizers said.

The show is the group’s first since a successful Kickstarter campaign but organizers warn that the material is not suitable for chlidren.

Those with a penchant for the macabre, however, are welcome.

“We definitely wanted to do it in a non-conventional theater space,” Petitmermet said.

The Witches will be performed Aug. 18, 24 and 25 from 8 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. at Court Tree Collective, located at 371 Court St. in Carroll Gardens. For tickets, visit this website.