Alan Cumming takes on 'Macbeth' _ all of it

This undated theater image released by National Theatre of Scotland shows Alan Cumming in "Macbeth." In the play, Cumming appears as a patient in a white-tiled mental hospital for whom the plot of "Macbeth is sort of a schizophrenic nightmare. The production, which started in Scotland in mid-June before coming to New York for the next few days as part of the Lincoln Center Festival. (AP Photo/National Theatre of Scotland, Manuel Harlan)

By MARK KENNEDY

AP Drama Writer / July 7, 2012

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‘‘What we’re trying to do, I suppose, is bring those acts of violence close to home to get into the actual darkness of them, the terror of them, the reality of them,’’ he says.

Cumming is no stranger to mining difficult material. The actor, who won a 1998 Tony in Sam Mendes’ revival of ‘‘Cabaret,’’ says he learned important lessons while playing Max, a gay man who finds love in the Nazi concentration camp in Dachau in Martin Sherman’s ‘‘Bent’’ in 2006.

‘‘I have in my life played several parts, like this one, where I've had to go to a very, very dark place. Early on in my career, I wasn’t able to stop the darkness and my real life had a kind of a fumble, shall we say. Since then, I've been very, very aware of that.’’

He survived ‘‘Bent’’ by not dwelling on the horror and by surrounding himself with comforts from home. He’s careful each night after playing Macbeth — actually ALL of ‘‘Macbeth’’ — to bounce back as best he can. ‘‘I don’t switch it off but I make a conscious effort to be merry.’’

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Online:

http://lincolncenterfestival.org

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Mark Kennedy is on Twitter at http://twitter.com/KennedyTwits