This week, Distant Era photographed Idle Muse Theatre Company’s Jeff Recommended production of What the Weird Sisters Saw, written by Evan Jackson and Tristan Brandon and directed by Evan Jackson.
On the eve of Cawdor’s rebellion against King Duncan, three young druidesses conjure a vision to discover the Fate of Scotland. As the image of a dark future begins to take shape, the Weird Sisters delve deeper and deeper into the mists, following a trail of bloody deeds to uncover the prophecy of a tyrant’s ambition. Something wicked this way comes as Shakespeare’s classic story of power and murder unfolds through their eyes in a reimagined tale of murder, dark fantasy, and horror!
Idle Muse Theatre Company — What the Weird Sisters Saw
Originally produced by Idle Muse at the Side Project theater in 2009, the first What the Weird Sisters Saw was a drama about the events surrounding Macbeth, shown from the point of view of the witches and the witches’ part in events. The original production exclusively used dialogue from Shakespeare, cut up and distributed among the characters’ speaking lines.
Fifteen years later, Idle Muse revisits and revises What the Weird Sisters Saw at the company’s current home at the Edge Off Broadway theater. Consequently, it’s no longer strictly a pastiche of Shakespearean dialogue; Idle Muse rewrote and re-conceived the show with contemporary dialogue to make the dramatic action and arc of the play clearer. That’s my summary—but of course the Idle Muse website puts it more eloquently.
From 2009 to 2024
Idle Muse’s summary of the two productions goes like this:
In 2009, a fledgling Idle Muse Theatre Company produced its first adaptation of a Shakespeare text. Based on The Tragedy of Macbeth and reframed from the perspective of the three witches, What the Weird Sisters Saw told the story of three young druidesses as they followed visions of bloody deeds to uncover the prophecy of a tyrant’s ambition.
From this small production at what is now the Jarvis Square Theater, the first Ensemble of Idle Muse Theatre Company was born—and alongside it, the company’s longstanding mission to create works of theater which transport audiences to worlds of magic and mystery. In the year of the 15th anniversary of this landmark production, that same Ensemble—now a broad collective of theater artists—returns to the stage in a brand new version of the same play!
More than just a remount, What the Weird Sisters Saw 2024 is a complete rewrite and workshop of the original text by the same creative team that produced Idle Muse’s most beloved “graphic novels on stage,” including The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and The Last Queen of Camelot.
—Idle Muse Theatre Company website
The original 2009 What the Weird Sisters Saw was Distant Era MVP and Idle Muse ensemble member Elizabeth MacDougld’s first show with Idle Muse and our introduction to the company, its community, and the fast friendships that developed over the years. Though originally one of the weird sisters, she plays Hecate in this production.
Photography
Idle Muse production photos are one part planning and two parts improvisation. For Idle Muse’s last show, Jane: Abortion and the Underground, I aimed for production photos with a “filmic” feel, since that show was set in the 1960s and ‘70s. For What the Weird Sisters Saw, I brought a handheld light with a hard modifier attached, which I used as a constant source instead of a flash. I typically focused the light partially on a subject and then let it fall off. Focusing the light like this emphasizes a particular subject, while everything else fades into shadow.
In other shots, I used a large reflector, capably held by Libby Beyreis, who is the show’s assistant director, as well as its violence designer. (Appropriately, Libby was on hand during my very first theatre photography shoot for Babes With Blades Theatre Company in 2010 and part of the 2016 shoot that planted the seed that grew Distant Era in the first place.) The reflector is the opposite of the light I carried, so it bounces back a big, even light onto the subject, as in this photograph of Caty Gordon, below.
The Edge Off Broadway has a thrust stage surrounded by chairs on three sides and brick walls on two. I therefore mostly shoot straight on or close up, my focal length ranging wide at 24mm to close at 70mm. What the Weird Sisters Saw has a moody lighting design by Laura Wiley, who kindly supplied some haze for our shoot.
Magic and Mood
When shooting a show, I do my best to consider the intended effect or mood of the show as I understand it. Then I shoot and edit it informed by that point of view. In my opinion, a production photograph not only needs to show the company’s work, but ideally it also communicates the quintessential mood of the show. Thus, in the photo below, you can see director Evan Jackson’s behind-the-scenes shot where we’re using the light described above. The previous photograph of Jamie Redwood and Elizabeth MacDougald comes from this scene.
LEFT TO RIGHT: Libby Beyreis with reflector; photographer in swanky Distant Era polo with camera; Caty Gordon with the additional light; Jennifer Mohr and Jamie Redwood on the floor; Elizabeth MacDougald standing.
Last but not least, thanks as always to Idle Muse for their awesome collaboration and ensemble spirit! The show opened on March 16, 2024, and is Jeff Recommended!
Cast and Crew
CAST: Caty Gordon (Murron), Jennifer Mohr (Dana), Jamie Redwood (Alastriona), Elizabeth MacDougald (Hecate), Joel Thompson (Macbeth), Mara Kovacevic (Lady Macbeth), Troy Schaeflein (Banquo), Brendan Hutt (Porter), Watson Swift (Macduff), Erik Schnitger (Duncan), Orion Lay-Sleeper (Malcolm) and Understudies Merrick McWherter, Katy Crow, Boomer Lusink, Lauren Paige, Meghann Tabor, Nick Barnes and John Wilson.
CREATIVE: Evan Jackson (director and co-adaptor), Tristan Brandon (co-adaptor, properties designer & health safety officer) Shellie DiSalvo (production manager), Libby Beyreis (assistant director and violence designer) Laura Wiley (lighting & projection designer), L.J. Luthringer (music & sound designer), Jennifer Mohr (costume designer), Stina Taylor (scenic designer), Breezy Snyder (scenic artist), Cori Lang (dramaturg) Becky Warner (stage manager), Line Bower (technical director), Lindsey Chidester (assistant stage manager), Michael Dalberg (literary director), Mara Kovacevic (treasurer/box office manager), Kati Lechner (director of fundraising/health safety officer) and Jinni Barak (social media).
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