Rebecca Ortese’s powerful one-woman play, Murder, Madness and Lady Macbeth (MML), is a multi-dimensional and fascinating exploration of the seduction of evil. “Is evil what one does?” she asks, early in her riveting performance. “Or is evil what one is?” Ortese wisely leaves it to her Woodstock Fringe audience at the Byrdcliffe Theatre to answer this penetrating question for themselves.

Ably directed by Leigh Silverman, Ortese gives a tour-de-force performance as an actress who takes on the demanding role of Lady Macbeth and a new love relationship at the same time. Either of these would intensify and increase the demands and pressures on any woman’s life. Taking on both simultaneously, particularly when her live-in lover reveals himself to be hovering on the brink of insanity, puts the actress over the edge. Or does it?

MML is structured so that Ortese is constantly shifting realities— cutting in and out of scenes from her contemporary life and Macbeth. There is a poetry to the way these scenes and excerpts transition into one another that helps the audience to sense the connections that the actress is making between her “real life” and the role she is playing. Zak Jacobs’ dramatic lighting design performs a crucial function in signaling the transitions as they occur.

Ortese skillfully portrays her actress self and Lady M (as she fondly refers to Shakespeare’s most powerful female character) while shifting on a dime to dialogue as her boyfriend, Jack, or the cackling witches in Macbeth. Some of these transitions are remarkably rapid, particularly as the play progresses and the tension mounts. For the most part they work beautifully. Occasionally, I found her dialogues with Jack confusing. Deepening her well-trained voice even further when she’s speaking as the obsessive, demanding lover would clarify matters.

Although Ortese did play the role of Lady Macbeth for the New Jersey Shakespeare Festival, according to Backstage Magazine, her solo show is not autobiographical. It is, however, a marvelously imaginative showpiece for Ortese’s many talents. Her emotional palette as an actress is wide-ranging and always believable. Her writing skill is apparent in the intricate structure and dramatic effectiveness of the script. She uses her body like an expressive instrument. She even has an opportunity to show off her operatically trained singing voice a couple of times during the show.

The play includes some very strong language, lots of anger and descriptions of violent acts. There’s also a healthy dollop of humor, the kind that arises from self-awareness and recognition of our shared humanity. Ortese’s work is unusual, yet accessible. Watching it is an emotionally intense experience that culminates in a sense of catharsis as Ortese comes out of denial, rejects the victim role and claims her full power as a woman.    A founding and former member of Richard Schechner’s East Coast Artists, Ortese developed MML in Mabou Mines’ residency program. Mabou Mines, established in 1970 and based in New York City, is an avant-garde theater company that “emphasizes the creation of new theater pieces from original texts and the use of existing texts staged from a specific point of view.” Definitely right up Ortese’s alley.   

With Lee Breuer as her mentor at Mabou Mines, Ortese began the long journey of shaping her solo show. One version has appeared at New York Theatre Workshop, another in last year’s Chip Deffaa Invitational. Woodstock Fringe is presenting the current version of MML as “the world premiere.”  Performances of MML will be held at the Byrdcliffe Theatre, on 5 p.m.. Friday, August 29; 8 p.m., Saturday, August 30; and 5 p.m., Sunday, August 31. Tickets are $18 general admission, $15 for students and seniors. Call 679-0167 for tickets or information.  ++