Before the play even starts, the cold, minimalist office space that makes up the set establishes the tone for the evening. This modern take on William Shakespeare’s Macbeth is a metaphor for the unsympathetic ambition of corporate America.
Inverness Unravels, directed by Dawn Meredith Simmons, debuted on Thursday to a full Robsham Theater. The play was written by nine students in Simmons’ “Devising” class and situates the narrative of Macbeth within a defense contracting company.
“It did a really good job at portraying the characters in a modern way and putting it in a modern setting,” said attendee Luka Papa.
Almost immediately, the audience is introduced to the idea of the supernatural—Tina (Laura Gowen, MCAS ’27) the mystical HR person, eerily foretells Lawrence Macbeth’s (Billy Bollbach, MCAS ’27) rise to power, saying “All hail King Macbeth.”
At first, Lawrence and his friend Blanquo “Q” Lobacher (Jaclyn Eberspecher, CSOM ’28) are taken aback and quickly dismiss her, but the attraction to power slowly begins to permeate Lawrence’s psyche.
Lawrence is soon promoted to vice president, and, reveling in his increasing position, begins to plot to get rid of the current CEO.
In a monologue indicative of his devolving sanity Lawrence proclaims, “King Macbeth, it’s what I’ve always wanted to be.”
Lawrence, however, lacks the gall to make a move by himself. It’s his wife Catherine (Haley Raffaele, MCAS ’26) who ultimately orchestrates the plan.
Raffaele’s performance was a highlight of the show—you could witness her initially innocent character grow sinister in real-time.
“I feel like you really saw her develop psychologically,” said Connor Mignault, MCAS ’25. “She became more nefarious.”
The CEO’s murder by way of a poisoned glass of liquor is the megalomaniac couple’s first truly wicked act, beginning a series of murders intended to help maintain their power.
The twist comes when, instead of Lawrence, Catherine is named as the new CEO.
“It was so clever to have the audience thinking that he’s going to be king and then subvert those expectations in a way that felt really fresh,” said Morgan Stumm, MCAS ’25. “[It was] as much of a shock to the audience as it was to the character.”
Lawrence is initially enraged but eventually submits to Catherine and becomes her right-hand man. But as the couple attempts to consolidate their power and the deaths pile up, Lawrence grows increasingly psychotic—the murder of Q, his old friend, is what drives him truly mad. He begins to have visions of the dead and imagines literal blood on his hands.
While Lawrence is regretful and haunted by what he has done, Catherine remains steadfast in her desire for control, saying, “You’re either ahead or you’re dead.”
The Macbeths are eventually challenged by the daughter of Q, Leah Lobacher (Faith Wladyka, MCAS ’26), and the sons of the original CEO, Malcolm (Zachary Kariotis, MCAS ’25) and Blaine Ross (Landon Le, MCAS ’26), who seek to avenge their parents’ murders.
The revenge coup is ultimately successful. Lawrence takes his own life, completing his descent into madness, and Catherine suffers the same murderous fate that she inflicted on numerous others.
“It was such a satisfying narrative arc to witness,” said Stumm.
Despite this ostensibly happy ending, the play ends ambiguously. The lights went out just as Leah, Malcolm, and Blaine began to bicker over who would be the new CEO—hinting at further bloodshed caused by ambition.
Following the performance, a crowd of friends and audience members eagerly waited for the cast to come out, eventually greeting them with a raucous round of applause.
“This is one of my first or second productions I’ve been to here, but I’ll definitely be back for more,” said Mignault.
