MacBird!

MacBird! was a notorious 1966 counterculture drama by Barbara Garson satirically depicting President Lyndon Johnson as Macbeth & his wife, Lady Bird Johnson, as Lady Macbeth. The production became a big hit downstairs at the Village Gate on NY's Bleecker St in the '67 season. Coming three years after Kennedy's assassination & before the end of Johnson's presidency, it caused controversy. Starting out as a short satire by a recent graduate of the Berkeley anti-Vietnam war movement, it was developed, with a little help from Shakespeare, into a rousing attack upon the current administration. The play, performed in full costume, flavored with rich Texas & Boston accents, & an attempt at Shakespearean iambic pentameter, begins with the '60 presidential convention, where, with the help of his wife, MacBird hopes to be elected King, but loses to John Ken O'Dunc. By a plot twist, it's revealed that MacBird will become Viceroy, much to the dismay of the Ken O'Dunc clan. Then MacBird comes upon three witches who talk to him in riddles, & who, in his imagination, reveal to him that he will in good time become King. MacBird decides to hasten this prospect & invites the Ken O'Dunc family to his ranch after the coronation. As the day of the visit approaches, his wife, who has been complaining that she always has to do the dirty work, sees a chance for her husband to gain the throne, & agrees to "call the shots" during the visit. A procession through the streets is planned, headed by O'Dunc, his brothers Bobby & Ted, & followed up by the Egg of Head & the Earl of Warren. John is assassinated, & is about to be succeeded by his brother Robert, which causes all sorts of complications. It had a long engagement in LA & became noteworthy because of the future careers of its original cast. MacBird! starred Stacy Keach as MacBird, alongside Rue McClanahan as Lady MacBird. John was played by Paul Hecht, Robert by Wm Devane & John Pleshette played Ted. John Clark, originating the Earl of Warren role, left the cast early to marry Lynn Redgrave, & Cleavon Little's 1st professional job was in the play. The stage manager, Joel Zwick, became an acclaimed movie & tv director.