Behind Civic Youth’s winning ‘Macbeth’
An all-girl cast from Civic Youth makes waves, earns awards and rave reviews at national competition
Thanks today for ongoing help from Based in Lafayette sponsor Long Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Lafayette, presenting this summer’s season of shows at Loeb Stadium in Lafayette’s Columbian Park. For tickets and details on all the shows and events, go to longpac.org.
BiL correspondent Tim Brouk steps in to take lead this morning.
BEHIND CIVIC YOUTH’S WINNING ‘MACBETH’
By Tim Brouk / For Based in Lafayette
Among the many highlights of Civic Theatre of Greater Lafayette’s strong 2024-25 season was a youthful, unique take on William Shakespeare’s classic play “Macbeth.”
The all-girl cast mastered The Bard’s beautiful prose while director Benji Braswell created a modernized take with an abandoned parking lot set, private school uniforms and themes that echo with today’s teens.
This wasn’t your parents’ Shakespeare nor was it a production that audiences at the American Association of Community Theater (AACT) were expecting. “Macbeth” was selected for the 2025 AACT YouthFest theater competition in Des Moines, Iowa.
“We definitely took a hard-hitting and brave new take on an incredibly classic tale of power, ambition and violence to this competition,” Braswell said. “We wanted to take a beautiful adaptation and find the voice of our youth within it. What are they struggling with today? Where are the power struggles, the unanswerable questions that grapple them and where do they fit in this story?”
After the gasps and other strong audience reactions, the cast of preteen and teenaged actresses and Braswell earned awards after the June 24 showing:
Backstage Award for organized set up, transitions and load in/load out of set pieces, props and costumes.
Outstanding Achievement in Ensemble Work
Ash Durham and Quin Findlay won achievement in acting awards for their role as Macbeth and Witch No. 2, respectively.
Commentary on school shootings, intense stage combat and even a decapitation set “Macbeth” apart from other community theaters submissions of their takes on kiddie fair like “The Little Mermaid Jr.,” “SpongeBob SquarePants” and “Once Upon a Mattress.”
Weeks after their triumphant return to Lafayette, Braswell, who is the director of education and outreach at Civic, reflected on taking “MacBeth” on the road with its entire young cast and making an impact among their theater peers from Minnesota, Connecticut, Maryland and other states across the country.
Question: What was it like for you and your young cast to present Shakespeare with mature themes and even a decapitation? How did audiences react?
Benji Braswell: Those mature themes became the shadows that lurked behind the witches, the set and the play within the play that the adaptation creates. It is no easy task to take any Shakespearean story down to a 60-minute cutting, but the pacing only increased our incredibly talented cast’s energy and kept the audience even more engaged in the story, the language and the buildup to the violent ending.
Question: How did your young cast do during the competition and what was it like for them to "take the show on the road?"
Benji Braswell: Our cast was made up of seven young actors, three crew and four staff members who assisted with travel. The cast became so incredibly close throughout the rehearsal process and opening of the show at Civic that they simply couldn’t wait to get back together for pick up rehearsals and take the show on the road. At competition, they experienced their fair share of nerves, which is expected, but they came together to put on the most lively and genuine performance of the production we’ve seen yet.
Question: What were some personal highlights for you from the experience?
Benji Braswell: I’ve worked with students doing Shakespeare for quite a long time, and I’ve never seen students take to it and fall in love with the language, the story, or see the parallels in our world and the world Shakespeare was writing like our Civic Youth did in this production. The growth from the students is what I will never forget from the experience. I’ve been so incredibly proud of these young artists, from the moment they began pronouncing the old English, to the romps at the most famous truck stop (Iowa 80) on route to competition, to the way they cheered louder than anyone else in the audience for every one of their competitors with genuine love and comradery, to that moment seeing the tears in their eyes when they won their awards and were recognized for all the incredibly hard work they have put in. I was blessed with an incredibly remarkable group of young artists who were eager to learn, grow and work for what they wanted.
Question: What keeps you involved in community theater, especially with younger folks?
Benji Braswell: I am a huge believer that theater is essential for children, especially in our current day and society. Community theater is a space where students can safely explore social skills, disconnect from their devices, connect with the world around them, dive into stories that help them better understand themselves, literally step into the shoes of a character that allow them to develop empathy skills and collaborate on a production that takes every single member of the cast, crew and production team communicating and working together in order to be successful. Doing a youth theater production is the best crash course life skills training you can give your child. The experiences students come out with — even when they don’t get the role they wanted — are those of pride, succeeding even when they thought they might fail, risk taking in a safe space, and having the agency to do something creative and imaginative that while guided and collaborative, is ultimately up to them as an individual to contribute to, commit to and see through. If you can’t tell, I am a huge advocate for theater education and the best theater education is getting out there and doing a show.
Question: What can you tell me about your next show for Civic, "Seussical Jr.?"
Benji Braswell: Boy, is it different than “Macbeth” in every way! “Seussical” is a story about a young Who from Whoville who’s imagination runs away with him and it’s starting to get him in trouble. While his whole world is blowing away on a clover, a brave elephant named Horton is trying to save him — the trouble is, no one believes Horton. This chaotically bright and brilliant tale of friendship, bravery and imagination travels through the jungle, the circus, Whoville and back to reality to show us all that we can never give up on our childlike sense of wonder. “Suessical Jr.” will open at Jefferson High School’s RPAC Theatre on July 25 at 7:30 p.m. and continue July 26 at 2:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Students are already in rehearsal and so excited to bring you this heartwarming show.
Tim Brouk is a longtime arts and entertainment reporter. He writes Tim’s Picks, an almost weekly feature, tracking things to do for Based in Lafayette.
Thanks, again, for ongoing support from Based in Lafayette sponsor Long Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Lafayette. For tickets and details on all the shows and events, go to longpac.org.
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Tips, story ideas? I’m at davebangert1@gmail.com.
When will they perform it again locally? Soon I hope!