Macbeth III: The Secret'st Man

Actor-director Douglas Campbell wraps up his three-part lecture on Shakespeare's MACBETH, while various actors perform the roles behind him. His comments, as you might expect, are learned and are reasonable interpretations. Yet, as he talks about Shakespeare's intentions and what the lines reveal, he ignores a basic truth : no one really knows what Shakespeare's text for the play was. No copies of his originals sides survived, and the earliest known copy of Macbeth was in the First Folio, assembled seven years after his death. We may reasonable assume it was compiled by actors who had performed in the roles, and many of the lines are Shakespeare's. But are they all? I would suggest that the very quotability of MACBETH, the fact that every line has been plundered for two titles of stories and novels and movies, would indicate otherwise. With all the dull but necessary parts stripped away, and a few improvements added, we don't know what Shakespeare really wrote, let alone what he meant.

Does this ake interpretation folly? Not at all. What's left is a great story, with enormous possibilities for each producer, director and performer to include his interpretation, broad and subtle; and by doing so reveal truths about humanity without fear of being reproached. After all, you can blame it on Shakespeare.