Customer Reviews

MacBird

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Picture three witches, one a hippie, one a overalled IWW relic, and one a generalized ne'er-do-well. When shall they meet again? In riot, strike, or stopping train, of course.

The play is a takeoff of Macbeth, with other Shakespeare mixed in from time to time, and thoroughly lampoons certain (un-named due to libel laws) US presidents during the early and mid Sixties. It is as thoroughly bloody and underhanded as the history of that period, and while it is fiction has managed accurately to capture the zeitgeist of that period. Born in a time when the students were rioting in the streets and we had the Crediblity Gap, MacBird manages to bring to a stage near you the authentic stench of the madness that was the Viet Nam War and its effects on the United States.

There is more to understanding the Sixties and the makeup of the times than what can be found in the history books. There are certain works of fiction which should be included in any intensive study of the period in order to gain an appreciation of what it was like to live in America at the time, and this play should be numbered among such.

Although it is a pity it will probably not be on the stage again any time soon, it does make a thoroughly good read, and will bring nostalgia to the aging hippies amongst us and comprehension to the rest.