Holy Trinity presented an exceptional production of Macbeth | Cappies

Dominic Gonsalves performs as Macbeth during Holy Trinity's Cappies production of Macbeth on April 17, 2026 at Holy Trinity High School. Photo by Mayowa Ajayi /Student

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Show #17 Holy Trinity Catholic High School

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Macbeth

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Director: Stavros Sakiadis

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Safya Khan, Lead Critic
Colonel By Secondary School

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The desire to orchestrate fate, conjoined with unchecked power, culminates in Macbeth’s damnation in Shakespeare’s shortest, albeit bloodiest, tragedy. Originally written in the 17th century, Holy Trinity Catholic High School’s production of Macbeth transposed the timeless tale of greed and guilt over a desolate steampunk wasteland.

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An esoteric prophecy from three witches advises Macbeth that he is destined to be king. Persuaded to commit regicide by his cruel wife, as well as by his own avarice, Macbeth ascends to the throne, and his ambition degenerates into a bloodbath of paranoia while his subjects rally against his reign. As the tyrannous king and queen are tormented by the very power they pursue, the reimagined industrial backdrop mirrors the fatal industriousness that will be their undoing.

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Dominic Gonsalves incarnated the tyrannical hubris of Macbeth with eloquently recited soliloquies and convincing merciless greed. Gonsalves’ steady mastery of iambic pentameter was as stirring as it was compelling. Portraying the ruthless Lady Macbeth, Nicole Casimir Derival embraced the fearsome callousness of the illegitimate monarch with striking intensity and polished phrasing. From taunting jeers to guilt-ridden madness, Casimir Derival set Lady Macbeth’s volatile downfall ablaze with conviction.

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Dominic Gonsalves as Macbeth (L), and Toby O’Connell as Macduff (R). Photo by Mayowa Ajayi /Student

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Looming haglike and uncanny, Sophie Mora, Layla Costescu, and Posimi Sotunde emerged as the three witches with a diabolical metaphysicality. Necromantic mysticism, ceremonial rites, and paradoxical prophecy were masterfully manifested by the trinity’s spasmodic and eldritch body language with chilling harmony. Contrary to a ten-syllable rhyme scheme, the witches chanted in a haunting trochaic tetrameter, commanding this unnatural and difficult rhythm with a controlled mania. Battles lost and won were choreographed by Dominic Gonsalves, and were executed with hypnotic brutality and calculated body language. Embodying Macbeth’s foretold foe, Toby O’Connell conveyed Macduff’s raging grief through frightfully realistic combat, confronting Gonsalves’ Macbeth in an intricate, violent dance of sword and shield that was as immersive as it was intense.

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The set, designed by Toby O’Connell, was dramatically brutalist, adorned by metallic pipes manufactured with pool noodles, an automated door, and a pair of austere thrones, complete with electric plasma balls. Ornamentation of wall rivets, corroded rust, and factory-like detailing forged the industrial atmosphere. The set was mechanised by an array of motorised styrofoam gears alongside a ticking clock that heralded Macbeth’s imminent demise. From eye of newt to owlet’s wing, The Witches’ Trinkets, led by Holden Ross, conjured a fair and foul air with sinister props, including a bloodied infant doll, and the gory decapitated head of Macbeth, designed and constructed by Taïna Casseus. Chance Kelly brought Macbeth’s black and deep desires to light through a dusky kaleidoscope of colour. Infernal red saturated the scene as weapons were drawn, and the witches were bathed in spectral greens and blues.

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From gruesome boils and warts, handmade by Elly Usta, to desiccated and weathered wrinkles, The Faces of Fate makeup team, headed by Sam Helmus, completed the macabre essence of the three witches. A maximalist use of cogs, goggles, and sepia tones by The Tailors of Cawdor, led by Sophie Mora, channelled both Victorian and science-fiction influences, with meticulous details such as an embroidered skull on the back of Macduff’s trenchcoat, and unsettling bulbous layers of skirts engulfing the second witch.

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Holy Trinity Catholic High School’s enchanting production of Macbeth brewed arduous combat, impassioned soliloquies, and magnificent craftsmanship into a post-apocalyptic revisioning of the acclaimed Shakespearean tragedy.

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Lisa Steinhaue, Critic
All Saints High School

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Tick. Tock. In their performance of Macbeth, Holy Trinity Catholic High School’s message rang clear: ambition fueled by security means only one thing: the clock is ticking.

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Macbeth is one of Shakespeare’s most renowned tragedies, and the shortest of them all. It follows Lord Macbeth, who usurps the Scottish throne through regicide after receiving a prophecy from three witches, promising that he would be king. As his sins catch up to him, however, he soon turns on his closest friends out of paranoia. Written in 1606, the play’s purpose was most likely to be performed in front of King James I of England, Scotland, and Ireland who was at the time hosting his brother-in-law, King Christian IV of Denmark and Norway, in London. Political climates were tense in this time period, with the Gunpowder Plot taking place only a year prior.

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Holy Trinity went all-out with the technical aspects of their show. On an imposing Steampunk set, actors passionately expressed agony, some in grotesque maquillage, and some stained in dizzyingly realistic blood, but all adorned with intricate embellishments. With nightmarish sound cues and glaring lights, the stage pulsed with mental anguish.

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Dominic Gonsalves embodied the guilt-ridden Macbeth with powerful voice, exaggerated gestures and facial expressions. Despite the play being entirely in Shakespearean English, Gonsalves expertly articulated his lines, and his voice alone carried the exact meaning of what the lines were supposed to convey. Furthermore, in scenes of misery and despair, Gonsalves’ face was a funnel to Macbeth’s inner turmoil. His skills gleamed during monologues following the regicide, where he looked at his gore-splattered hands with a face twisted with guilt and denial, falling to his knees and hyperventilating, all while crying out into empty space.

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Posimi Sotunde as Third Witch (L), Sophie Mora as First Witch (UM), Dominic Gonsalves as Macbeth (LM), and Layla Costescu as Second Witch (R). Photo by Mayowa Ajayi /Student

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The Witches (Sophie Mora, Layla Costescu, Posimi Sotunde) undoubtedly placed a curse on the play. Their movements were wild and unnatural, one constantly twitching her head, another creepily grinning ear-to-ear and staring intently into the distance, certainly unlike any inhabitants of the earth. What made their performance more disturbing was their uncanny ability to speak in complete unison and to synchronise their movements, especially when they spun around the staff or tugged at the air to telekinetically pull Macbeth towards them.

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The set was a masterwork. Depth was clearly established by arranging delicately painted and textured symmetrical mobile walls to create a shrinking corridor stopping at the focal point; the massive, mechanized clock. This gave the clock a hypnotic allure, and with it, a feeling of helplessness and resignation, faced with the vastly superior power that is time. In addition, the stage was used to its fullest, with the action at times taking place in the centre, in the corner, or on the very edge of the stage. This allowed for increased emotional expression, such as basing a grieving scene in a corner to amplify solitude and hopelessness.

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Holy Trinity Catholic High School’s rendition of Macbeth, blessed by talented actors and a prodigal technical department, demonstrated the macabre beauty pure ambition can bring.

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Kirpa Singh, Critic
All Saints High School

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Vaulting ambition. The endless pursuit of the crown. Echoing, otherworldly laughter, and the bubble of the cauldron of fate. Such definitive values can only belong to one play. That is, the Scottish Play. Holy Trinity Catholic High School’s exceptional production of Macbeth innovatively revived the timeless production while resonating with authenticity.

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Originally composed over 400 years ago by legendary poet and playwright William Shakespeare, Macbeth follows the story of a Scottish nobleman who defends his wartorn country. Alongside his loyal friend and fellow soldier, Banquo, he encounters three bearded hags–the Witches–who bestow mysterious fates upon them. Macbeth is prophesied to work his way up the line of power until he becomes king, while Banquo’s children are foretold to carry royal blood. Upon hearing this news, Macbeth’s wife, Lady Macbeth, spurs her husband’s ambition to seize his fate at once through regicide. Holy Trinity Catholic High School ingeniously wove this cyclical tale of fate, ambition, power, and corruption inside a desolate steampunk city. The production demonstrated high levels of difficulty and originality, astounding student leadership, complex character arcs, and deep costume symbolism.

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Dominic Gonsalves brilliantly executed the role of a conflicted man driven by ambition. Gonsalves’ passionately spoken soliloquies were part of what made the character of Macbeth instantly recognizable. By emphasizing certain words, each line carried further impact. This unique display of originality especially shone in Act 1, where Macbeth debates his first murder. Intentional sincerity and subtly layered concern resonated within each line. Additionally, emotive physicality, nuanced facial expressions, and a range of personalized emotions reflected Macbeth’s imminent moral deterioration. Gonsalves’ intense portrayal of Macbeth truly did justice to Shakespeare’s character.

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Dominic Gonsalves as Macbeth (L), and Nicole Casimir Derival as Lady Macbeth (R). Photo by Mayowa Ajayi /Student

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Nicole Casimir Derival masterfully acted as the spark that lit Macbeth’s fire of ambition–Lady Macbeth. Through strong facial expressions, an innocent yet internally destructive demeanour, and bubbling rage, Derival challenged the ideals of femininity within the time period. This growing display of raw emotion highlighted the character’s morally corrupted soul and impassiveness. Derival also powerfully captured the effects of guilt on Lady Macbeth’s conscience, incorporating distress and regret in her conduct and countenance.

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Equally influential was London Cash as the messenger of the plot, Ross. Cash brought palpable passion and determination to the stage, and her genuine and smooth line delivery skillfully expressed the destructive effects of Macbeth’s reign on Scotland. Taïna Casseus’ performance as the Doctor was also undoubtedly memorable, signifying Lady Macbeth’s conclusive character development through her chilling delivery of Lady Macbeth’s final diagnosis.

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Chance Kelly and Nir Levin crafted an extraordinary, immersive, and familiar experience through lighting. With over 99 personalized lighting cues and the use of floor lighting, this creative layout dramatized and spatialized events that occurred throughout the show. Lighting was also harnessed to create familiar settings, using colour combinations to indicate changing environments as well as to mirror the mood and atmosphere of certain scenes. Whenever Macbeth’s overwhelming ambition took the wheel, the lighting changed to a flourish of bright, ominous reds.

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Costumes that embodied the retrofuturistic aesthetic while also meaningfully paying homage to Macbeth’s Elizabethan-style roots were composed by the Tailors of Cawdor. These costumes were not only originally sourced but also held deep symbolism regarding the work’s central themes. The transition from Macbeth’s steampunk-style hat with a crown-shaped trim into the ornamental piece itself represented the gradual corrupting influence of the crown on Macbeth, a prominent theme within the centuries-old production.

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The students of Holy Trinity Catholic High School’s hard work, imagination, and originality all served as “happy prologues to the swelling act / Of the imperial theme” for their bewitching, immersive, and entrancing production of Macbeth.

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Gianna Dufresne, Critic
All Saints High School

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“Fair is foul and foul is fair” in Holy Trinity Catholic High School’s twist on Shakespeare’s Macbeth. Taking the words of the Elizabethan play and situating them in a post-apocalyptic, steampunk wasteland, Holy Trinity Catholic High School told a familiar story of betrayal and death, presented in impeccable iambic pentameter.

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One of Shakespeare’s most famous tragedies, Macbeth recounts the downfall of a thane who receives a prophecy from a group of three witches, foretelling his future as king. Upon hearing this prediction, Macbeth’s wife encourages him to take his fate into his own hands by killing King Duncan. The newly crowned King Macbeth quickly becomes corrupted by his increasingly unrestrained ambition, killing everyone who poses a threat to his power… until his attempts at self-preservation end with his head on a stake. Holy Trinity Catholic High School tells this timeless tale of greed, ambition, and fate with an industrial spin.

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Dominic Gonsalves stepped into the role of Macbeth with passion and sincerity. Gonsalves combined sharp movements, powerful projection, and eloquent delivery to create a fierce and engaging character. Gonsalves’ intensity portrayed the Thane of Glamis’s fear, distress, and deterioration into the corrupt King of Scotland.

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Nicole Casimir Derival played a compelling Lady Macbeth, using expressive intonation to convincingly adopt the difficult Shakespearean language. Casimir Derival embodied Lady Macbeth through distinct facial expressions, natural body language, and frequent interactions with others and the environment.

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Toby O’Connell delivered a grounded performance as the noble Macduff. Through heartfelt facial expressions and reactions, O’Connell’s portrayal of Macduff’s worry, grief, and righteous anger was truly moving. London Cash played Macduff’s loyal ally, Ross. Cash depicted Ross’ reliability through confident delivery and a steady stage presence. Cash’s subtle emotion lent weight to grave scenes and supported the play’s dire atmosphere.

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Sophie Mora, Layla Costescu, Posimi Sotunde played the terrifying witches. Each had a unique charm that set them apart while working together to form a cohesive unit. Their dramatic movements, chilling voice work, and clear commitment created a memorable and disturbing ensemble.

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The Builders of Dunsinane provided the gritty, steampunk-inspired backdrop for the classic literary work. Sturdy, intricate sets showcased this team’s skill and creativity, with detailed brick walls that folded back to reveal a large, handmade clock face and continuously rotating gears. The sets also featured convincing gas lamps, motorized sliding doors, and glowing pipes made from lava lamps and latex-wrapped pool noodles.

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Chance Kelly beautifully designed and skillfully executed the lighting, with a wide range of hues and brilliancy. From contrasting cold blues with warm orange lamplight, to bathing murderous scenes in shades of blood-red, Kelly used lighting to produce a variety of atmospheres, paint absorbing visuals, and reflect character’s emotions. Rock Dallaire created the cinematic soundtrack and intricate soundscapes that enhanced the action onstage. With 92 cues, such as a rapid heartbeat and ticking clock, Dallaire’s sound invoked thrilling suspense throughout every scene.

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Sam Helmus as Lennox ( L), Andrew Aprueldo as Banquo ( M), Taiwo Babatunde as Angus ( 2FR), Dominic Gonsalves as Macbeth (R), and the cast of Macbeth during Holy Trinity’s Cappies production held on April 17, 2026 at Holy Trinity High School. Photo by Mayowa Ajayi /Student

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Holy Trinity’s Macbeth featured an assortment of impressive special effects such as creeping fog and realistic fake blood made from chocolate syrup, corn syrup, and red food colouring. Additionally, a background in fencing and karate enabled Dominic Gonsalves to choreograph complicated stage-combat for four enthralling sword fights.

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Mirroring the gears that inspired them, the cast and crew worked like a well-oiled machine to put on this gripping adaptation of Macbeth. In Lady Macbeth’s words, “What’s done cannot be undone”; likewise, these students’ talent and attention to detail cannot be forgotten.

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Kahlan Duff, Critic
St. Joseph High School

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When blood is spilled in the name of power, it can’t simply be washed away—it rusts one’s innocence and mars it with guilt. Holy Trinity Catholic High School staged an outstanding production of Macbeth, featuring innovative steampunk elements.

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Macbeth is a 17th century Shakespearean tragedy following Lord Macbeth and his corrupt path to the throne. Encouraged by his ambitious wife, he finds himself guilty of unspeakable crimes, which fester within his soul. This production of Macbeth is set in a grungy steampunk world, one that may be consumed as power stains Macbeth with blood. As the cogs in the clock of fate tick down to his final moments, he must find a way to live with his actions—or lose himself forever.

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Dominic Gonsalves embodied Macbeth throughout his impassioned monologues, tormented cries, and guilt. Gonsalves projected his voice boldly, indicating Macbeth’s audacity and ambition. Gonsalves moved with the words he spoke, which helped make the Elizabethan speech seem more natural. He effectively used iambic pentameter, and hit well-placed pauses for dramatic effect. Gonsalves conveyed all of Macbeth’s complex emotions, desires, and regrets through his tone, and made monstrous Macbeth relatable.

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In the role of Lady Macbeth, Nicole Casimir Derival highlighted Lady Macbeth’s toxic ambition. Casmir Derival used sharp, commanding tones to reflect her control over Macbeth, and walked in a confident, malicious manner, which helped clarify Lady Macbeth to be a villain. When Lady Macbeth’s cold-as-steel heart begins to crack and she starts feeling remorse, Casmir Derival changed her posture to indicate Lady Macbeth’s distress. Contrary to the darkness of Lady Macbeth, Ace Rouble provided a comedic performance in the role of Lady Macduff. Rouble acted with impressive range, capturing Lady Macduff’s bluntness, fear, and maternal nature. The Witches ensemble also enriched the production. The Witches, Sophie Mora, Layla Costescu, and Posimi Sotunde, played off one another fantastically. Though they spoke and moved as though they had one mind, each witch had their own personality. Mora, Costescu, and Sotunde used a combination of serpentine and jerky movements, each complementing the other.

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A steampunk world would not be complete without a cinematic set. The Builders of Dunsinane set team provided a portal into the rusty wasteland with cogs, hyperrealistic bricks and metal. They layered colours to make materials such as wood, foam and plastic subtly appear rusted and worn with punctilious detail. The set featured industrial pipes, rivets, and a giant clock, all of which came together into a jaw-droppingly realistic piece. Set design collaborated with the special effects team (Toby O’Connell, Layla Costescu, Callie Siegner, and Luna Abou-Saban) to create a moving set—literally. A giant clock in the background ticked away, and the gears behind it rotated as if they were really driving machinery. Some of the pipes attached to the set contained glowing lava lamps, which added visual interest. Together, the set and special effects teams created truly unique and astonishing visuals.

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The Tailors of Cawdor team carried the steampunk theme into the costumes. Each costume was customized for the show, for example, gears were attached to clothing, goggles were added, and many pieces were tailored. One particularly unique element was how certain headpieces from conventional Macbeth were crossed with Victorian hats, and string lights were embedded in The Witches’ costumes. They also created brass cyborg arms, which were the epitome of attention to detail.

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When all the elements came together, the result was spectacular. Holy Trinity Catholic High School’s steampunk rendition of Macbeth delivered an impactful, memorable message about fate, ambition, and the weight of past mistakes.

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About the reviews:

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The  Holy Trinity Catholic High School production was reviewed by 28 critics representing 7 schools. The critic discussions were mentored by teacher Electra Hatzopoulous of the Canada’s Capital Cappies Steering Committee and student reviews were edited and selected for publication by teacher Shamus McCoy of Immaculata High School, who could see only the reviews, not the names or schools of the reviewers.

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Next review: St. Joseph High School’s production of Clue (High School Edition).

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About the Cappies:

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The Citizen and 21 local high schools are participating in Cappies, a Washington, D.C. based program that uses high school critics to review high school theatre. The program is a unique partnership between the Ottawa Citizen, the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board and the Ottawa Catholic School Board. Two schools from other boards in the region and three private schools have also joined. The Canada’s Capital Cappies season culminates with an awards Gala in June graciously hosted by the National Arts Centre. Follow Canada’s Capital Cappies on Instagram @OttawaCappies.

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