Patrick Stewart in Macbeth

Blood-soaked drama, abusive power, abominable brutality--terms synonymous with Shakespeare's Macbeth. Rupert Goold's dark production, which debuted in New York on February 12th at the Brooklyn Academy of Music's Harvey Theater, comprises all of these frightening elements with a modernized interpretation that is positively chilling. Coming off of a wildly successful run in Britain, all shows for the five week American debut sold out within a week of going on sale, and Patrick Stewart's celebrated return to his Shakespearian roots in the title role undoubtedly has lured audiences in.

In a press conference held earlier this month, Stewart waxed passionately about the role. It was at the very young age of fourteen (!) when he first memorized Macbeth's lengthy speeches and colorful soliloquies, and relearning them at his current age of 67 was a pleasure for him. He read everything he could about Joseph Stalin, since Goold's production has a distinct Soviet-era feel and style. When questioned about his age as it relates to Macbeth, Stewart thought it created a fantastic dynamic: As an older man with a much younger and beautiful wife in Lady Macbeth, it provides the character with more inspiration to commit his heinous deeds, as if to say, "It ain't enough.I want everything."

Playing Lady Macbeth is Kate Fleetwood, the stunning British actress and wife of director Goold. Stewart jokingly claimed that her role should have come with a warning label because of all the "manhandling" his character does. Fleetwood did not study Stalin to prepare, but paid close attention to the sexual mannerisms of Nigella Lawson, Britain's sexpot TV star, chef and author. She also read "Women Who Kill" and confessed to being perversely fascinated by people with a similar history to Macbeth. Fleetwood and Stewart share a wonderful chemistry with each other that carries the audience throughout the epic, three-hour production.
               
What about those few over-zealous Star Trek fans showing up in full costume to view Stewart's stage performances? When asked about the phenomenon of his celebrity, Stewart takes great pride when he sees television fans convert to classical live theater. Although he wishes they'd leave the uniforms at home, he does feel single-handedly responsible for creating new audience members for his stage productions and derives great satisfaction from that.

Patrick did an interview with Playboy in 1992 where he spoke about his experience working on Star Trek and his most coveted Shakespearian role that we have yet to see him play: Hamlet.