Expect the Unexpected: Jake Henderson Talks ‘Macbeth’
A new Kingston theatre company is taking on an old classic. To be exact, Two Rabbits One Hat is bringing Shakespeare’s Macbeth to Union Gallery. Playing the notorious title character is Jake Henderson, an actor, researcher, and fourth-year student at Queen’s University. Last week, I had the pleasure of sitting down with Henderson to speak all about the illustrious Macbeth.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Getting over the superstitious hump of simply saying Macbeth out loud (despite not being in a theatre), I asked Henderson to tell me about Two Rabbits One Hat’s production. “We’re really excited to bring Shakespeare back to the Queen’s campus. And this is an interesting take that our director [Rachel Rusonik] has that’s kind of bringing into question why do we still value Shakespeare, and why do we still seek out Shakespeare like, 400 years after this show was first performed?”
Henderson dug a little deeper into these queries. “We’re using Shakespeare as a vessel to question the purpose of Shakespeare. Clearly that’s not a mode that he had in mind when he was writing this play, but we see the different branches that these plays can shoot off of. And if you really dig into the text, you can kind of manipulate them in a way that suits your production and what you want to bring out of the production. They’re just—the texts are so rich that you can really lean into so many different aspects of one text to create, maybe not so much a different story, but to make the audience take something different away from that story.”
And working on plays centuries after they were written means understanding them in the context of our modern era. “Our director, Rachel, she’s really interested in, why, even in the 21st century, do we seek out violence? Because you go to Macbeth, you expect the gore and the fight scenes and all this nasty, grisly stuff that, if you look back [hundreds of] years, you’re like, ‘Yeah, okay, this, this was the kind of thing that the Elizabethans were into’. They watched, like, bear fights and dog fights and all these other entertainment mediums that were more gory than ones that we seek out…
“[Macbeth] is also interesting because it’s a political setting, obviously, but it’s—most of the scenes take place behind closed doors, and it’s kind of an inverse of what the public now would see in these political settings. All the public events kind of happen off stage, like the coronation of Macbeth is not something that you see on stage within the text. A lot of versions, ourselves included, they add it on. But there’s nothing in the text… So what does the audience get to see? What are we allowing the audience to see, both in terms of this production, but also hoping for them to think about, what are they allowed to see in our more modern political settings?”
Henderson brought up an interesting power dynamic, which of course meant we had to dive into the relationship between Lady Macbeth and her husband. “Lady M [played by Eleanor Guy] is the pinnacle of Shakespeare’s female characters. She’s so interesting. And it’s really fun to play with because when Lady M is in charge, everything is going so well, everything is going off without a hitch. But as soon as Macbeth tries to take the power back, once he thinks he’s confident enough to get the ball rolling, that’s when things really start to run their course and really start to fall apart for them.”
Supporting the character collapses unfolding on stage is the scenographic design by Charlie Hensel. “We’re very much leaning into the idea of reporting and news and you can see from the Instagram posts on the Two Rabbits One Hat account that there’s just newspaper everywhere, and that’s going to find itself seeking into the set, as well as the general aesthetic of the show. We chose to do it in alley staging—so, audience on two [sides] of the stage—because we thought that really leaned into the idea of what we’re allowing the audience to see in this production.”
With an art gallery as the venue, the performance space is a bit unconventional, but Union Gallery is providing excellent access to all artistic mediums amidst cuts within the sector. “As soon as we pitched to Union, they seemed very eager to be able to provide an opportunity for artists to find a space to work, and they’ve been very generous in helping us figure out how to work with this space that isn’t a traditional theatre space and very—just open and really excited about what we’re doing. And I hope that our production establishes a shoe in the door for potentially other companies that are desperate to put on something, somewhere, to be able to use that space as well.”
With an unexpected venue, Two Rabbits One Hat is keeping in theme with their brand. Created by Robert Herz, the company choosing Macbeth as their first production was very intentional. “You pull a rabbit out of the hat and then there’s—oh, there’s another rabbit. You never expect another rabbit. So I think our production of Macbeth really leans into that idea of working with the unexpected.”
To further ignite anticipation of the show, I leave you with this: Henderson’s favourite line of Macbeth. “False face must hide what the false heart doth know.”
Jake Henderson is an actor and researcher wrapping up his fourth year at Queen’s. He is best known for his performances of “Man” in ‘The Other Shore’ and “God the Father” in ‘Paradise Lost’.
Two Rabbits One Hat’s production of ‘Macbeth’ plays at Union Gallery from March 11-14, 2025. Find more information here.
