Think Kosovo. Think Rwanda. Think Angola. Think Macbeth.

        Cincinnati Shakespeare is back in military modern dress for Shakespeare's full-throttle drama about a man torn between ambition and conscience. It opens tonight and continues through Feb. 11.

        “There are people like this out there,” observes festival guest director and world news junkie Drew Fracher. “One man's despot is another man's hero. This play resonates very loudly here and now.”

IF YOU GO

What: Macbeth.    When: 8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday through Feb. 11.    Where: Cincinnati Shakespeare Festival, 719 Race St., downtown.    Tickets: $18, students and senior citizens $12. 381-2273.

        Festival company member Giles Davies plays the honorable warrior who kills his king for the crown.

        His Macbeth isn't driven by the supernatural prophecies of three witches, but by today's headlines. The action will play out in press conferences, in a political war room.

        This Macbeth makes his own decisions. “That's what makes it a tragedy,” notes Mr. Davies. “Otherwise he's just a bad guy nobody likes.”

        Mr. Fracher adds, “Ultimately the most important is that this man has a choice. He can say yes to the witches, to his wife, to his ego, to his ambition. Or he can say no. We all have those choices — yes, no — every day.

        “And once he makes his choices, the repercussions just fall around him.”

        Director and actor agree the Bard's great tragedy has stood the test of time because there's a little Macbeth in all of us.

        “We are all titillated by the idea of power,” says Mr. Fracher. “It can be a moral center or just fear or reprisal that keeps us from going there, but we're all drawn to it.”
       

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