The chill in the air isn’t the only cold coming to the city, as Cincinnati Shakespeare Company’s next production, Macbeth, re-contextualizes the classic Shakespeare play through the lens of the Cold War. The fateful tale, equal parts ambition and manipulation, transports audiences to a time fraught with tension and power struggles. This powerful production features a smorgasbord of Cincinnati theater stalwarts and marks a return home for actress Hayley Guthrie, who plays Lady Macbeth.
Guthrie is no stranger to Cincinnati stages. Having begun her acting career in her youth and been a part of Cincinnati Shakespeare Company’s repertory group for six seasons, her history with the local theater scene runs deep.
“I started doing theater when I was 10. And it was all musical theater, and then I did RenFair and then I got cast in A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” said Guthrie. “I was, like, all of a sudden, getting paid to do these things and, again, it was all Shakespeare, so I said I’m just gonna stick with this.”
Guthrie’s roles in productions like Romeo and Juliet (as Juliet) and Miss Julie (in the titular role) further strengthened her connection to Cincinnati’s theater world. The demands of the repertory group, where she often toured or rehearsed by day and performed by night, pushed her artistic
growth. However, after six seasons — some including up to nine productions each — Guthrie stepped back to focus on family and eventually moved to Seattle, Washington.
“That used to be what you did. You were hired the whole season, and you were in every single play. That is a lot, but I mean, a steady pay and a steady job. It was amazing,” Guthrie said. “And then, by the end, it was just a lot.”
Years later, Guthrie returned to Cincinnati with her family and is now set to make her grand return to the stage in a show widely regarded as a classic.
As Lady Macbeth, Guthrie portrays the determined and headstrong wife whose manipulation sets the show’s turmoil into motion. The role is one of several reasons Guthrie was enticed to return to the stage.
“It’s been a delight, it’s been a treat, it’s been heavy, it’s been dark. There’s not a calm scene in it for her; she kind of starts at 11 on a scale of 10. There’s layers to it,” said Guthrie. “I’ll leave to go home and I’m like, I swear we only ran that scene like two times, but I feel like we’ve been going all day. Learning how to shut the valve off is always a challenge.”
The production is set within the Cold War context, incorporating themes such as mind control projects like MKUltra and political struggles for power, enhancing the play’s exploration of power dynamics. Guthrie notes how this added layer deepens the themes of the play.
“That’s kind of what we’re building in and layering around it and seeing where it takes different things, because if you’ve just popped a pill, whether it’s to calm your nerves or make you bold, what is that doing and how does the down play into the unraveling?” she said. “It’s a little spooky, honestly. I love it though.”
Though set in the Cold War era, Guthrie believes the themes are still relevant today. The production also walks a fine line between the supernatural and the physical, heightened by Shakespeare’s witches.
“The director (Christopher Edwards) stated a lot that he thinks what we do to each other is much more horrific than what the supernatural does to us. We’re a lot uglier with the human element, we do a lot uglier things,” Guthrie explained. “The fear is there and the trauma is there.”
As if the return to the stage wasn’t special enough, Guthrie’s daughter, Ceridwyn, also makes her debut in Macbeth, playing Little Duff and several apparitions. Guthrie describes the experience of being both a mother and a scene partner as uniquely rewarding.
“I was very nervous because I was like, I don’t know how to mom and work a full-time job, but it’s been so easy and so awesome. We had a couple of times where she was like, ‘Mom, let’s talk about this and how do we do this,’ and I was like, ‘Maybe go talk to your scene partner,’” said Guthrie, laughing.
However, balancing the demands of being both a parent and a performer is never easy. Guthrie reflects on the difficulties of long nights away from her family, especially when her children were younger, and her gratitude for this opportunity.
“They’re finally at an age where I can do it. You know, at 8 and 11, they can understand and process me not being around,” Guthrie shared. “We’re together all the time. Love is so special. It is really special, and I’m so grateful.”
The title Macbeth carries with it a long-standing superstition in the theater world — it’s considered unlucky to say it inside a theater, often referred to as “the Scottish play” to avoid the curse. Guthrie shares her own experience with this superstition during rehearsals.
“If you’re doing a play, you’re allowed to say the title, and we had a big discussion about it at the first read,” she said. “I think I told somebody I was playing Lady Macbeth in the theater earlier this year, in the lobby, and they were like, ‘Don’t say it!’ And I’m like, ‘Oh no! Do lobbies count?’”
Theatergoers need not worry about curses or ill fates in this production, though.
Macbeth, presented by Cincinnati Shakespeare Company, runs now through March 23. More info: cincyshakes.com.
This story is featured in CityBeat’s March 5 print edition.
This article appears in Mar 5-18, 2025.