Steadstyle Chicago
	July 2008 Film Review by Joe Stead
	Looking for a Ticket Broker? Check out the hottest broadway tickets from Gotickets.com Never Say Macbeth Critical Evaluation: *** out of **** The theatre is full of superstitions, one of the most famous and feared being the curse of "Macbeth".  William Shakespeare's notorious "Scottish Play" has been addled with well documented plagues, accidents, disasters and deaths for hundreds of years, and many theatrical practitioners still practice a "cleansing" ritual should the dreaded title of the play ever be spoken aloud in a theatre.  Former Chicago actor and writer Joe Gold has tapped the legend of "Macbeth" and his experiences with such local troupes as Northlight, Trap Door, European Repertory and Live Bait and come up with a delightful little Indie film titled, simply enough, "Never Say Macbeth".  Gold stars in the film as Danny, a mild-mannered science teacher who has followed his former girlfriend to L.A. to attempt a romantic reconciliation and winds up cast in a local production of Shakespeare's four-century-old play.  It's the age-old battle of science verses drama, as the ghosts of a previous tragic repertory production slug it out with the living cast for center stage.  Our literal-minded hero really has no interest in acting, but when he mistakenly utters the unlucky name in an open audition, he finds that the curse of "Macbeth" is not to be taken lightly.  "Never Say Macbeth" has the potential of being a quirky and slightly macabre black comedy, and there's a lot to recommend the modest little film, which is being released on DVD on August 26th by Vanguard Cinema.  For non-believers, it can also be something of a kitschy camp-fest, with an over-the-top astrology loving director, a creepy stage manager straight out of "Star Trek," a soap star in rehab, and a couple of minor gay caricatures.  Mixed into the stew are the ghostly thespians, who include not only the witches of "Macbeth," but a singing Pirate King from "The Pirates of Penzance," and Oscar Wilde's aristotocratic young lovers from "The Importance of Earnest".  Both plays were also in repertory when a company member mistakenly took the name "Macbeth" in vain and the entire theatre went up in flames, leaving no survivors.  With its rich theatrical lore, "Never Say Macbeth" would seem an ideal candidate for theatrical adaptation, even if that unlucky stigma follows with it.  To purchase or rent the DVD visit www.neversaymacbeth.com.