From March 5 to March8, a troupe of talented young actors graced the UB Center for the Arts’ (CFA) Drama Theatre, bringing their audiences a gripping adaptation of “Macbeth” by William Shakespeare.
Adapted and directed by Assistant Professor Danielle Rosvally, this reimagining of Shakespeare’s “Macbeth” introduces a modernized element to the popular fantasy tabletop role-playing game, Dungeons and Dragons (D&D), as well as a dose of campy fun. The costuming, set design and fight choreography hit it out of the park and perfectly blended the classic tragedy of “Macbeth” with queer expression.
The audience follows four characters, Witches 1 to3, played by freshman musical theatre majors Piper Noda, Gabrielys Rosa Lozada and Madesen Clarke, respectively, and their superior and dungeon master, Hecate, played by Zephyr Freeman. Outside of their roles within the game, they are overwhelmed college students seeking escapism from a world that is hostile to their identities, communities and safety. When they slip into their fantasy roles as witches and goddesses, they gain the power to change the world they created based on the story of “Macbeth,” with the hopes of creating a better one.
What ensues is a whirlwind of plots, murders and clashes between parties. With Macbeth’s death by the hands of a man “not of a woman born,” it marks the end of his reign of terror and bloodshed.
Ty Burgess, a junior acting major and playwright, and Ainsley Urbanek, a freshman musical theatre major, absolutely stole the show with their performances as the scheming duo of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth.
This is not Burgess’s first time delving into dense Shakespearean literature, as he has co-directed and performed for The Third Annual LV Shakespeare Showcase in Dec. 2025.Despite the difficult and archaic language use in the play’s dialogue, Burgess effortlessly flaunts his commitment to the role and acting expertise, evidenced by how his diction and enunciation remained superb throughout his scenes.
Urbanek’s ability to project her voice throughout the entire auditorium and command an audience’s attention as the imposing Lady Macbeth was unmatched on stage. This performance marks her mainstage debut at UB, and it left a great first impression on the crowd.
Finally, no mention of Macbeth would be complete without acknowledging the work of the Witches. They mirror the Moirai, or the Three Fates, from Greek mythology, a trio of powerful women who dictate the inescapable destiny of mortals and gods alike.
During the performance, they sat at the D&D table set up in the background, mimicking their respective characters as they appeared on center stage and seemed to puppeteer their actions in a nearly identical manner. The viewer is reminded at all times that, although Shakespeare wrote the original, the story within the D&D game changes at the whims of the hands of fate: The Three Witches.
At the end of Rosvally’s “Macbeth,” the show ended with a dance performance of “Abracabra” by Lady Gaga. Members of the large cast did flips, voguing and death dropping, both being iconic moves in ballroom and drag culture, and nodding to the theme of queer liberation and celebration.
Rosvally’s director’s note explains how she grew up with a framed poem on the wall of her home, “First They Came,” by Martin Niemöller, a work about how complacency enables the stifling of voices and perpetuates cycles of oppression and violence. By the end of the poem, no one is left to help the speaker, all having already been taken away by the oppressive regime.
She relates this to the current events, more specifically, the violence and legislative attacks against LGBTQ+ people in recent years and under the current administration.
“Stories have power. Telling stories is the closest we can come to making real magic.” She says, “Sharing stories with each other helps us feel something, en masse, together; it helps us grow in community and understand one another.”
The arts desk can be reached at arts@ubspectrum.com
Photo: Paul Hokanson / UB Athletics
Photo: Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons | Lasse1974
