The Los Angeles stage scene meets the movies in the entertaining and original new indie comedy Never Say Macbeth.

For those unaware of theatrical superstitions, the one word no actor must ever utter inside a theater is the title of William Shakespeare’s MacYou-know-who.  (Instead, actors refer to it as “The Scottish Play.”)  Productions of MacB have been fraught with accidents and even Never Say Macbeth had its share of mishaps and bad luck, though fortunately none of them prevented the film from getting made.

Never Say Macbeth is the brainchild of Joe Tyler Gold, an L.A. based actor who has done many plays with both Pacific Resident Theatre and Circle X Theatre, including Circle X’s award-winning Eurydice. Gold wrote, co-produced, and stars in Never Say Macbeth as Danny, a young science teacher who comes to Los Angeles with a mission, to persuade his girlfriend to give up her dream of becoming an actress and to go back home with him.  Unaware of thespian traditions, Danny arrives at the theater where Ruth (Ilana Turner) is said to be and innocently asks “Are these the auditions for Macbeth?”  Mayhem ensues.

Soon Ruth gives Danny some bad news (at least for him).  She’s been cast in the show and as for her ex, well he’s simply part of the life she’s left behind.

When Danny explains to Macbeth director Jason (Alexander Enberg) his reasons for coming to L.A., a tale so passionate that Jason assumes Danny is trying out for a part, the director casts him on the spot.  Realizing that being in the same play with Ruth may be his only chance to get her back, Danny reluctantly agrees to become an actor, only to find that he has a rival for Ruth’s love—the soap opera hunk playing Macbeth (Mark Deklin).

There’s also the not so small matter of Macbeth’s curse. Turns out that fifty years ago, there was a fire in the theater and the ghosts of the three productions which were playing in rep at the time (The Pirates Of Penzance, The Importance Of Being Earnest, and “The Scottish Play”) have returned to haunt the theater in 2008, including the Pirate King (Sam Zeller), Algernon (Michael Gabiano) and the three witches (Melodee M. Spevack, Ruth Silveira, and Diane Hurley). All this occurs under the watchful eye of Star Wars obsessed stage manager Jeni (rhymes with Jedi), played by Tammy Caplan.

Will Danny manage to get Ruth back?  Will the theater survive an infestation of ghosts?  Will the show (Macbeth 2008) go on? The answers to these and other questions are found in Never Say Macbeth.

Gold is an ingratiating presence as Danny, and he is surrounded by a talented cast of actors whose names may be more familiar to L.A. theater aficionados than to film and TV fans. There’s also a self-help guru (Scott Conte), a new age actress (Tania Getty), and more ghosts than you can shake a stick at.

Special effects were done “on a budget” but they are surprisingly spooky, and anyone who’s spent time in a theater will get a kick out of characters from Gilbert and Sullivan, Oscar Wilde, and William Shakespeare sharing the same stage.

Kudos are due all around, from director Christopher J. Prouty to composer Tim Labor to cinematographer Michael Millikan, with a special tip of the hat to Engberg, doing double duty as actor and special effects supervisor.

Anyone seeing Never Say Macbeth is likely to have a great good time, and unlikely to say you-know-what inside a theater ever again!

--Steven Stanley
August 13, 2008