The Cambridge American Stage Tour (CAST), founded in 1999, is one of the major international theatre groups in Cambridge, producing an annual tour with a small group of talented actors and technicians. This year’s CAST production is none other than one of the Bard’s classics: Macbeth! I sat down with the CAST 2025 director Maisie Johnson, co-tour manager and Education Officer, Jacob Coughlan, and Amie Brian (playing Lady Macbeth) to discuss their approach to such a beloved Shakespeare staple and their thoughts about going on tour to the USA.

I begin by asking perhaps the most obvious question: what’s the vision? When I ask Maisie about her approach to refreshing such a well performed play, she talks about feeling “the weight of the performance history,” and how working with the actors has been instrumental in shaping her vision. She mentions that she has been particularly focused on Lady Macbeth and her maternity, explicated by physical movements on stage: “We’ve been playing with bodies and the strange ways they move, exploring how as characters get increasingly driven towards madness, their bodies act strangely.” This led me to inquire if, without giving away any spoilers, there are any special, visually enticing moments the audience should expect to see. She reveals, “There is a series of opening liquid tableaus, that the audience will fade in and out of. They are quite uncomfortable but brilliant to watch, as they are very physicalised moments of birth and contorted movement.”

“We’ve been playing with bodies and the strange ways they move”

Recognising the comfortable predictability of the Cambridge audience, I ask the team about their thoughts and expectations on the transition to American audiences. Maisie says: “Cambridge is a lovely place to do theatre because there is an expectation of there being like-minded people in the audience. In America, on the other hand, I have no idea what the mindset of the audiences from state to state will be.” Amie excitedly adds: “Bringing the witches to Salem is very exciting to me! I’m personally interested to see how the comedy versus the seriousness of the play will translate in America.”

Turning towards the practicalities of the tour, I ask Jacob about what kind of route he and his co-tour manager Tally Arundell have planned. “A busy but a good one! This year we will start on the East Coast and will be moving towards the South, starting in Boston and ending in Georgia,” he says. The company will be performing in a range of schools and universities, working on educational workshops with students of varying ages, “engaging with the text and getting people excited about Shakespeare. There will be a lot of interactive engagement with the cast, which I think will make the whole process even more rewarding.” He also considers the challenge of the variability of stages: “It will be interesting to see how the show can adapt from more intimate to larger spaces. I think it will give the actors an edge and keep it fresh for them,” he adds. Maisie also emphasises the importance of “crystallising moments of emotional blocking and letting physical blocking fall into place,” depending on the type of stage the company must adapt to.

“I’m personally interested to see how the comedy versus the seriousness of the play will translate in America”

Considering the difficulty in the longevity and variability of the tour, I ask Amie how she plans on keeping fresh contact with her character: “I think that as the stage space changes and people get more confident, the play will just get weirder! People will be taking more risks and that will encourage me to respond to them,” she says. Taking into account the emotionally demanding nature of a character such as Lady Macbeth, I was curious as to the ways in which Amie prepares to take on and embody her character. She mentions that she has been diving into the implicit motivations of Lady Macbeth and “considering what it means to be a body and to be in a body. Because we are dealing with issues of infertility and maternity, there is an anxiety to not reduce Lady Macbeth to just that, because she is so transgressive.” She stresses that experimentation and “pushing the scenes into the weird and wacky” in rehearsals has been vital as “trying to strike a balance between being a character, and being a character in an ensemble” has been a helpful anchor in shaping character.

Finally, I ask the team what they’re most looking forward to for the USA tour whether that be in relation to performing or otherwise. Maisie and Jacob both mention their excitement at getting to see how the company and the play change throughout the tour. Unlike most Camdram productions, the CAST company has the privilege of time “to dedicate to the play and reflect on it.” The whole team expresses how much they appreciate the incredible opportunity to travel across America and look forward to spending time as a company together. Amie also, very importantly, adds: “I’m also looking forward to the food! I really want to try a Philly cheese steak!”

The evident passion and eagerness characterising this team is particularly promising, as they prove themselves artistically equipped to take on the unusual challenge of the USA tour. CAST’s Macbeth promises to be dark, yet alluring and I am very excited to see how this company’s transformation of Shakespeare’s classic shakes both the Cambridge and American ground.

CAST’s Macbeth opens for previews at 1:00 pm on Thursday 19th and 12:30 pm on Friday 20th June at The Town and Gown Theatre. It goes on tour in the USA between Tuesday 2nd - Friday 26th September before returning to the ADC Theatre between Tuesday 7th - Saturday 11th October.

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