ReelBob: ‘The Scottish Play’ ★★★½
By Bob Bloom
For some, creativity is like a spigot that cannot be shut off. Be it a playwright, painter or author, the urge to improve on one’s work — even if it is universally acclaimed — never dies.
The muse of inspiration is eternal, ignoring life, death and centuries.
That is wonderfully encapsulated in writer-director Keith Boynton’s very enjoyable movie, “The Scottish Play.”
Boynton’s conception is a valentine to the theater and William Shakespeare. The movie is a sweet drama with a touch of the supernatural as it delves into a small-town New England theater festival production of “Macbeth,” usually — because of centuries-old superstition — is commonly referred to as “The Scottish Play.”
It has been adapted, staged and filmed numerous times with each production adding its own interpretation, but, nonetheless, telling the same “tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.”
Sydney (Tina Benko) is a famous actress who wants to return to the smaller, intimate production of her younger years. She accepts the role of Lady Macbeth in a production being directed by Adam (Peter Mark Kendall), a young and somewhat awkward individual, who plans on offering a no-frills version of Shakespeare’s classic.
Adam wants to avoid all the bells and whistles others have brought to earlier productions and let the actors and the Bard’s words take center stage.
On the first day of rehearsals, Adam’s first words are about the “curse” on the play, claiming that uttering the name of the work will bring disaster is pure nonsense.
But a couple of accidents to arise, the cause of which turn out to be rather surprising.
In the garden of the bed-and-breakfast where Sydney and the cast are housed, she meets a strange man named Will (Will Brill). He speaks in iambic pentameter and claims to be the ghost of William Shakespeare.
Whether he is corporeal or a figment of Sydney’s imagination is slowly unveiled over the course of the movie.
It seems Will is not totally satisfied with “Macbeth,” claiming he had to rush it into production.
Boynton examines the playwright’s itch to rewrite and improve his work, as his Will rewrites the tragedy and giving the pages to Sydney, who must convince Adam to accept them.
He refuses until Will makes a personal appeal.
You will have to see “The Scottish Play” to discover whether Will’s new concept is a hit or not.
No matter, though, because the movie is most entertaining, featuring a solid that also includes Geraint Wyn Davies as the play’s leading man and Ali Ahn as Adam’s pragmatic stage manager.
Theater buffs and devotees of Shakespeare will embrace this small and delightful feature. Trust me when I say that his “Scottish Play” is no tragedy.
I am a founding member of the Indiana Film Journalists Association. I review movies, 4K UHD, Blu-rays and DVDs for ReelBob (ReelBob.com), The Film Yap and other print and online publications. I can be reached by email at bobbloomjc@gmail.com. You also can follow me on Twitter @ReelBobBloom and on Facebook at ReelBob.com or the Indiana Film Journalists Association. My movie reviews also can be found at Rotten Tomatoes: www.rottentomatoes.com.
THE SCOTTISH PLAY
3½ stars out of 4
Not rated