SHI to sponsor free showing of Tlingit Macbeth
Event to coincide with First Friday
April 30, 2025
(Synopsis)
Sealaska Heritage Institute (SHI) will sponsor a free showing of its film “Tlingit Macbeth” this week as part of the institute’s First Friday offerings.
The play, which was written by William Shakespeare and translated into Tlingit by the late Johnny Marks during his time at the institute, is set in the context of the Tlingit culture, fusing Shakespeare’s words and characters with the language, music, dancing and visual design of the region’s first peoples.
The play was conceived of and directed by Anita Maynard-Losh of Perseverance Theatre.
Living in Hoonah, Maynard-Losh noticed similarities between the Tlingit culture that surrounded her and the world of Shakespeare’s “Macbeth.”
“Both societies were built on clan systems, were known for fierce warfare, had a potent connection to the supernatural and valued the good of the community over the good of the individual. These similarities became the backbone of the Tlingit ‘Macbeth’ project,” she wrote in a book in development by SHI.
“While the first two iterations had a few lines in Tlingit, the third took on a new and monumental challenge…characters [spoke] their lines in Tlingit when they were adhering to those cultural beliefs, and in English when they were not.”
This third performance took place at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) in Washington, D.C., in 2007. Sealaska hired a film crew to document the performance and in 2023, SHI received a grant to edit the final program, which was produced by Morgan Howard Productions.
SHI premiered the film at Celebration 2024, and this event at the institute’s clan house will be the second showing. The screening is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Friday, May 2, in Shuká Hít within the Walter Soboleff Building, 105 Heritage Way, in Juneau.
Synopsis
Returning triumphant from battle, respected warrior Macbeth and his fellow general Banquo encounter three witches who predict that Macbeth shall be Thane (Lord) of Cawdor and then King, and that Banquo shall be the father of kings. Shortly thereafter, Macbeth learns that he has indeed been named Thane of Cawdor. Spurred on by the truth of this prophecy and the ambitions of his wife, Macbeth murders King Duncan, who is visiting Macbeth’s castle. Duncan’s sons, Malcolm and Donalbain, flee in terror, and Macbeth is crowned King.
In an attempt to protect his position, Macbeth has Banquo killed, but Banquo’s son, Fleance, escapes. Macbeth revisits the witches and is told that he should beware of Macduff, who had opposed his accession to the throne; that he cannot be harmed by any man born of woman; and that he will be safe until Birnam Wood comes to Dunsinane Castle.
Macbeth’s reign becomes increasingly tyrannical and bloody. He has Macduff’s wife and children killed, while his own wife goes mad and dies. Macbeth’s soldiers begin to desert him when Malcom brings an army to attack Dunsinane, using boughs cut from trees in Birnam Wood as camouflage (which, from Macbeth’s castle, creates the illusion that the forest is approaching). But Macbeth still believes he is invincible until Macduff, who was not born but prematurely “ripped” from his mother’s womb (via caesarean section), slays him. Malcolm is proclaimed king.
Sealaska Heritage Institute is a tribal organization founded in 1980 to perpetuate and enhance Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian cultures of Southeast Alaska. SHI also conducts scientific and public policy research that promotes Alaska Native arts, cultures, history and education statewide. The institute is governed by a Board of Trustees and guided by a Council of Traditional Scholars, a Native Artist Committee and a Southeast Regional Language Committee.
CONTACT: Kathy Dye, SHI Communications and Publications Deputy Director, 907.321.4636, kathy.dye@sealaska.com.
Caption: Art created by Tlingit artist Robert David Hoffmann for the original Tlingit MacBeth program. Note: Media outlets are permitted to use this image for coverage of this story. For a higher-res image, contact kathy.dye@sealaska.com.