"Lady Macbeth, (is) played with lethal intensity, icy grace, and flashes of ironic humor by the excellent Christianna Nelson, who returns to The Curtain after a strong turn as the Nurse in Romeo and Juliet. Often misunderstood as an orchestrator forcing her husband’s hand, she and he are like-minded seditionists from the start. They are a Highlander power couple seizing initiative in Lowland society; they’re accomplices straight through the play, egging each other on and absolving each other’s heinous acts.
The truest tragedy for the audience is that Lady Macbeth practically vanishes from the back half of the play, robbing Macbeth of its most compelling character — an ambitious, wounded woman navigating a man’s world with every trick at her limited disposal. The real bubbling cauldron is the Lady’s ferocious desire for more than what she has, and Nelson knows when to stir it, when to let it simmer and when to turn up the heat until the poisonous mixture spills over the sides."
-Tris McCall, Jersey City Times
“In a cast of solid performances, Jamie Ballard, as Macbeth, and Christianna Nelson, as Lady Macbeth, completely dominate.”
“Nelson conveys a woman still reeling from emotional trauma but capable of deep connection with her husband, before giving up on managing his guilt-plagued hallucinations and retreating into a largely offstage world of her own.”
“The candle-girded set is necessarily minimalist, making the inclusion of a black-draped bassinet a striking addition. The staging further emphasizes its importance by kicking off the play with Lady Macbeth onstage, dressed in mourning, sadly gazing into the empty vessel. “Out, out!” she cries to a servant delivering Macbeth’s news from the front, calling forward both to her “damned spot” and her husband’s “brief candle.” The freshness of this loss informs both their character arcs, from her immediate brutal nihilism to his fury at the “fruitless crown” and “barren scepter” handed to him by the weird sisters, as well as a shocking act of onstage violence he commits late in the play.”
-Elise Nussbaum, Theaterpizzaz.com
"Ballard’s performance is ably matched… by the imposing Christianna Nelson as Lady Macbeth. Following on the heels of her excellent performance as the Nurse in “Romeo & Juliet,” Nelson commands the stage in all of her scenes. She is icy and pragmatic and, when Macbeth starts seeing ghosts, more than his equal."
In an inspired bit of casting, The Curtain brings Christianna Nelson back to Jersey City for a turn as the manipulative, conflicted anti-hero of Shakespeare’s most tumultuous tragedy. Those who’ve followed the theater company’s successful (and, at $40 a seat, relatively affordable) attempts to produce quality Shakespeare plays on our side of the Hudson will surely remember Nelson for her alternately hilarious and horrifying take on the Nurse, a supporting part in last year’s sharp, muscular staging of Romeo And Juliet. Hers was a standout performance, and it’s gratifying to see that she’s been rewarded for it with a chance to play one of the flashier parts in the Western theatrical canon.
Photo by Will O’Hare
Photo by Will O’Hare
Photo by Will O’Hare
Photo by Will O’Hare
