The FROG & PEACH THEATRE COMPANY will present William Shakespeare’s MACBETH, from March 6 to March 29, 2026 (no performance March 13th), at The Cullum Theatre, 314 W 54TH Street.
Delving into the dark themes of grievance, murder, and seduction that define one of Shakespeare’s most celebrated works, Frog and Peach is renowned for its innovative and engaging interpretations of classical plays, and Macbeth. And let’s face it, and those themes Macbeth tackles—murder, one act of tyranny leading to more and so much more nastiness—might make it the perfect play to see right about now!
I was lucky enough to have a jaw with F&P’s Co-founder & Artistic Director Lynnea Benson about Frog & Peach’s turn at the Shakespearean classic.
Although it is surely a classic, can you speak to putting up a version of Macbeth at this time.
Lynnea: It would be hard to ignore the moral composition of Macbeth not reflecting our current political situation in many ways. Certainly, I have had my colleagues pushing for cupcake plays, things we have done before, like The Taming of the Shrew, lighter and fun Shakespeare, all of which Frog & Peach has done very well. But there is something about Macbeth, how one crime turns to tyranny, that seems to speak to our modern times, with drug cartels and social media, one moral flip soon digging a great big hole.
The tag this time around is ‘What if a madman were king.’ That might say something about how timely this play is.
Tell us where the production is playing
It will be at The Cullum Theatre, 314 W 54TH street @ The American Theatre For Actors, a glorious space. Jim Jennings took residence back in the 70s’. It’s a historical building that has housed a few different things. We are very comfortable there and produced our Taming Of The Shrew at this theatre last season.
The post-COVID theatre scene is surely a different animal than before COVID (as are most things pre and post the pandemic). How did Frog and Peach weather those lean lockdown years?
We had a show ready to open in April 2020, a tour of our Tinkerbell Theatre, but everything folded. I got in touch with actors across Zoom, knowing we had to do something, and I even spoke to a public health historian. Her advice was to lean into the situation, not ignore it, but create something cheerful, something to lift people out of their suffering. So, we created fairy tales for grown-ups that garnered well over a million views on FB alone.
Our first production out of COVID was “As You Like It,” in a little space on 71st Street, and we were thrilled to see a 40% completely new audience for it, across the whole run. People really wanted to get out. Those audiences have returned to every production…with friends! It’s thrilling to such a diverse audience grow with us.”
Those successful numbers must speak as much to your productions as to how you conduct F&P business.
Yes, we keep budgets low. We want to keep the theatre as easy for folks to attend as they would a movie.
It’s great to hear that, I know, for most people, Broadway shows, even lots of off-Broadway is just out of reach for an everyday person’s budget.
I don’t know many people who can afford it. Broadway is not for regular folks who normally go to a movie or ballgame. But with us, it’s really surprised me pleasantly, the people they see our cast on our post cards, actors who look just like the members of our audience, so that factor makes us ever more relatable. Our social media is strong too, and people do indeed come to our plays.
How far out to you plan your main stage productions?
For Macbeth most people I wanted to cast were finalized around Halloween. I’d say four to six months is usual. I think I really started to think about this in August, before I mentioned it to anybody.
Tell us about Tinkerbell Theater
With Tinkerbell we present live shows for children and their parents across the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Upper Manhattan. Our actors receive a modest stipend, and the shows serve single parents and grandparents, people on food assistance, pretty much anybody who wants to come and experience live theater.
Thanks Lynnea, and break many legs with MACBETH. Go here for tickets: https://www.frogandpeachtheatre.org/tickets.php#/productions-view
