costume, make up and props costume costume is very important in the production. the play is set at...
TRANSCRIPT
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Key areas Design Elements Multi-media Lighting Costume Make-up Sound Set Levels Proxemics Stage Space Characterisation Multi-rolling Style Genre Language
AIMS
1. To examine Shakespeare’s Macbeth in relation to:
a. WW1
b. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
2. To produce a work involving a small cast (5) who would multi – role with
gender blind casting and be suitable for touring small venues/schools
3. To rework a script which would stay faithful to the language, rhythm and plot
lines of the piece but which was of a length suitable for the above
PROCESS
Research PTSD with particular regard to the experience of soldiers on the front
line
Devise and perform a ‘scratch’ performance of one scene to explore the viability
of these themes and how they can be communicated effectively to an audience
(a combination of Act 1 Scenes 1 and 3 the witches)
Make cuts in the script to create a shorter piece while remaining faithful to the
language, rhythm and plot line. To amalgamate smaller characters into one
cohesive character where appropriate to facilitate the understanding of the story
told with a small, gender-blind cast
Select and book suitable venues/ performance spaces
The Director and Producer to create and agree an artistic vision with regards
staging, costume, sound, lighting, special effects, set, language, characters,
roles and casting,
Engage a cast of 5 actors – three males and two females. As a company, we
favour a short, intense rehearsal process and as a small organisation rarely
advertise but prefer to work with actors we have worked with on previous
projects or with whose work we are familiar. The cast of Macbeth consists of
four actors, who have worked with us on previous productions, plus one actor
new to the company, but with whose work we were familiar.
Engage in a rehearsal process, which was a mixture of collaboration and
direction, within the framework of the set, staging and costume previously
decided.
KEY AREAS FOR EXPLORATION
STYLE AND GENRE
The style of the piece is simplistic and representational. We tell the story from the
perspective of Macbeth suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The
hospital/psychiatric ward setting USR makes the suggestion that perhaps all the
events take place in his head, not in reality.- or do they? You decide.
The overall mood we have created is a disjointed world out of sync; an old tale with a new twist; a re-telling of the story in a way that makes it accessible and comprehensible. The witches become Macbeth’s soldiers. The creation of the soldiers’ scenes were influenced by Joan Littlewoods’s ‘Oh, What A Lovely War’ where the happy singing and banter contrast darkly with the horror to follow. In the reprise at the start of the second half, Macbeth’s warning comes in time to appear to save them, but then their reactions become strange and erratic, clearly not natural. The genre is Shakespearian/Classical with a contemporary interpretation whilst retaining the original language of the play.
MULTI – ROLEING
There are over 20 named characters in Macbeth, some of whom only appear briefly
and some of whom have similar names. As most actors would be playing a variety of
characters, in order to simplify the story and reduce confusion from the audience we
decided to cut and amalgamate characters. Some of our choices are as follows:
1. The actor playing Macbeth does not double up, as he needs to be clearly seen
as central to the story and the title character.
2. The actor playing Lady Macbeth doubles as Soldier (witch) 1, the nurse looking
after Macbeth and as Ross
3. The actor playing Duncan, who only appears early on the play doubles as
MacDuff, a doctor, Soldier (witch) 3 and Fleance
4. The actor playing Banquo doubles as Malcolm, a doctor and Macduff’s son
5. The actor playing Lady Macduff doubles as Soldier (witch) 2, a doctor, and
Seyton.
6. The character of Seyton was created from several smaller characters including
the Murderer.
7. We have had to cut characters or have them referred to but not appear on
stage. Donaldbain, son of Duncan, is referred to but not seen. There is only one
murderer in our version who is Macbeth’s right hand man, Seyton. The witches
are envisioned as Soldiers and Hecate does not appear. There are various
English lords who do not appear.
STAGE SPACE
Our opening run takes place in two ‘black box’ studio spaces so the staging will be
end on in both.
LEVELS
In the production, we use lighting and basic set to indicate areas and places. We do
not use physical staging levels due to the relatively small size of the playing area and
the rakes set up of the seating. We do however achieve visual levels with the use of
the camp bed, camping stools and the floor.
SET DESIGN
We want to convey a clinical, clean and uncluttered stage so set is minimalistic
Four white tree shaped hat stands to hold costumes for changing and become
Birnham Wood in Part 2
Five army style camping stools and a camp bed with white sheets
Four panel white surgical screen
Cast are onstage/side stage visible most of the time and costume changes to signify
character changes take place on stage. This is because they are ever present in
Macbeth’s head.
LIGHTING
With no set changes, lighting is integral to our play – indicating passage of time,
change of location, highlighting and pointing scenes. We will be using spots, pools,
areas and colour washes and a tree leaf gobo. Initially we were looking at a blood
spatter gobo as well but decided it was too dramatic
SOUND
The play opens with a voiceover which relates the events of the Thane of Cawdor’s
betrayal of King Duncan. This is narrated in Macbeth’s voice as if in his head.
Scenes near the battlefield are underplayed by a battle soundscape
All other sounds are created live by the cast.
We decided to keep sounds to a minimum to let the actors’ voices and
Shakespeare’s words take maximum effect.
PROXEMICS
Proxemics refers to the position of actors in relation to each other on stage.
The visuals are very important in this production. When the whole cast is on stage
the proxemics have been carefully worked out to give the audience both a balanced
view and where to direct their attention. For example there are some scenes where
characters appear in the background (scenery on legs) to add dimension to the
scene and there are other scenes where all characters are alert and listening to each
other and their relationships and reactions need to be clearly seen.
We use proxemics to highlight relationships. In the early scenes Macbeth and Lady
Macbeth are very close emotionally are highlighted by their physical closeness, but
as their relationship deteriorates the physical gap between them changes.
Proxemics indicate status and familiarity in other characters – Father and son
Duncan and Malcolm, Mother and son Lady Macduff and son and (before Macbeth is
King) equals Macduff and Macbeth.
In some scenes movements have been choreographed. The most obvious is the
fight scene but there are other times where the actors’ movements around each
other have been choreographed to indicate power shifts throughout a scene – this is
particularly apparent with the witches in act 2.
Kinesphere
Rudolf Laban “the sphere around the body whose periphery can be reached by
easily extended limbs without stepping away from that place which is the point of
support when standing on one foot” (1966, p.10).
We use the exercise of kinesphere to create a character’s personal space and the
reaction it elicits when this personal space is either invaded by persons unwelcome
or where familiar persons are invited in.
Gestures
The actors will use gestures to indicate personality quirks, emotions and gender.
This last is especially important in gender-blind casting to assist in making a
male/female; female/male casting believable.
MULTI MEDIA
We felt that the use of multimedia technology would not enhance our production,
beyond the use of the single voiceover at the beginning. This voiceover is used to
set the scene, underplay the action and to enable us to run Act 1 Scenes 1 and 3
together as one flowing scene.
GENDER-BLIND CASTING
The production is cast gender-blind with females playing male roles. (There are no
males playing females). As a company, we subscribe to gender-blind casting but
because there are only two female characters in Macbeth we felt that they should be
played by women who would then double as other male characters. Thus Lady
Macbeth doubles as Soldier 1, a nurse and Ross and Lady Macduff doubles as
Seyton, Solder 2 and a doctor.
COSTUME, MAKE UP AND PROPS
Costume
Costume is very important in the production. The play is set at the end of WW1 so
the costumes are as authentic looking as possible.
Rank and status are denoted by headgear. Duncan wears an officer’s cap and then
a crown; Macbeth, Banquo and the three soldiers wear Brodie helmets when on the
front line; Macduff, Ross and Seyton wear soft army caps and Malcolm wears the
same with a cap badge to denote rank; Macduff’s young son wears a child’s baker
boy hat; Macbeth and Lady Macbeth wear crowns when they are King and Queen.
We also use plaited sashes to denote status and allegiances. Macbeth is given the
red sash of the Thane of Cawdor with the title; Duncan gives his son Malcolm his
own blue sash when he creates him Prince of Cumberland; Macduff accepts a blue
sash from Malcolm when pledging his allegiance; Seyton wears a red sash to denote
his affinity as Macbeth’s man. Additionally the sashes which Macduff and Seyton
wear are not as ornate as those of Macbeth band Malcolm.
Macbeth and Macduff, as the two main military commanders wear Sam Browne
officer’s belts. Malcolm is the Prince of Cumberland but he is not a fighter so does
not wear one.
The hospital staff wear doctor’s coats and a nurse’s apron.
Lady Macbeth wears a distinctive red dress to highlight her role and status and also
to suggest that she is steeped in blood. The dress is also an important visual prop for
Macbeth. Lady Macduff wears a more homely outfit to suggest that she is primarily a
motherly figure.
Seyton hides under an enveloping cloak to murder Banquo and Fleance and the Son
have simple capes to suggest their youth
When Macbeth appears from his chamber in response to Macduff’s knocking, he
wears a military cape not a nightshirt to suggest that as a military man he is always
alert for action. Lady Macbeth hastily throws a shawl over her clothes as she has
hastily retired to bed and this contrasts with the sleepwalking scene where she
wears a nightdress
Props
Small, personal props are used to point character. The soldiers have a cigarette
case, pack of cards and a ‘thumb’; the servant in the banquet carries silver goblets;
Lady Macbeth has a blooded rag; Seyton has a hip flask.
We also made the decision to use daggers not rifles. Fighting at the front often
deteriorated into hand to hand fighting with knives and sharpened entrenching tools
and the use of daggers in the fight scene is a nod to the daggers used in the murder
of Duncan. The exception is when Banquo startles Macbeth while he is still reeling
from the shock of watching his comrades die. Here he pulls a gun - the threat from a
gun is more immediate than from a knife where the combatants have to get in closer
and denotes the state of shock in Macbeth’s mind at that time. In later scenes where
he uses the daggers, he is more measured and calculating.
Make up – the use of make up (other than foundation to prevent light reflection,
which causes faces to be too pale), is not necessary for this production. We decided
against the use of fake blood as unnecessary but also too non-realistic at close
viewing range. Blood is suggested by a ‘bloody’ rag, lighting changes and the actors
positioning their body away from the audience
FIGHT SCENE
The fight scene was professionally choreographed and meticulously rehearsed (do
not try this at home!) and the daggers are specially made for stage combat (they are
NOT sharp).
MILITARY WORKSHOP To help us all inhabit the physicality and mind-set of soldiers, we did a workshop looking at marching and drill. This looked at how soldiers are taught to follow orders and commands without questions, which in its most basic form and from day one, is done through marching and drill. The basics of how to stand to attention, to keep time with everyone else when marching in your section and how to salute the ranks above you are a great window into this. It helps to feel how the tension in the body and through the uniform and boots. This can make someone feel powerful, strong and alert which can be see instantly in how soldiers hold themselves, even long after leaving the army.
LANGUAGE AND SCRIPT
We have edited the original script with regards to:
Length – the original is 2.5 hours long
Adapting to a small cast – we have amalgamated characters who only appear
briefly to enable the clarity of the story and to not confuse the audience with
too many characters multi-roled. For example, Donaldbain is referred to but
does not appear; Seyton is a mixture of several characters; the English Lords
are referred to but do not appear.
Highlighting actions – we have made Macbeth murder Lady Macduff and her
children himself, not send an assassin, in order to make his actions more
personal and thus more horrific.
However, we have kept to the original language and cuts have been carefully made
to keep the iambic and the rhythm of the speeches. We have tried to use the actions
and intonations of the actor’s to convey the meaning of the unfamiliar language.
CHARACTERISATION
John Faulds on playing Macbeth There are infinite ways to approaching a character. The starting point and development is a very personal process, with every actor tackling every part slightly differently. For this role, my starting point was the immediate circumstances of the play, then I tried to pick out all the clues from the text and then I focussed on the other characters during rehearsal. The context of what had happened immediately prior to the beginning of the play - the who, what, where and when - meant I had to look at the very end of the First World War, when our version of this play is set. Years of fighting, leading men under dreadful conditions and experiencing the loss of people you have been through everything with for the last few years, the sense of responsibility for having ordered needless death informs everything that happens after such an experience. Years of combat takes an extraordinary toll on a human being. In 1918, there was an added dimension of that culture. As a man from the “officer class” there was a repression of feeling and a sense of patriotic duty which feels almost gimmicky now. But the truth of it has to inform everything for Macbeth, it would be easy to assume that meant the men felt nothing. It is rather that it was the only way for them to cope with it, it is what they had been taught to do: by both society and the military. This must then work into the physicality and personality. Now we move onto the text. By what Macbeth says and what is said about him, an actor can tell so much. We can also compare all of his actions from the start of the play to the end, painting a picture of his character journey. During this journey, we can see how Macbeth is discussed by other character and how he discusses others. The poetry by which Lady M speaks of him “full of the milk go human kindness” and his lament about why people will grieve for King Duncan are good examples of where Shakespeare gives us clues for this work. Macbeth is a man that can feel, he is a man that can think through issues, he is a man that gets caught up in his own thoughts and that actions are sprung on him rather than being properly planned. We see this in the murder of both Duncan and Banquo: he has thought about it and is resolved of the action, but when the circumstances present themselves suited to the action, he is ill prepared and makes mistakes. This could then be a man that is traumatised from war, or a philosopher that gets caught up in thought, or a man
better suited to enacting his orders and taking his men with them not formulating his own large scale plans. All of these are possibilities that have to be tried and tested. Once this work had been done, I felt I had a fair idea of what might motivate Macbeth and how he approaches problems. In rehearsals I then experimented with taking different approaches with Macbeth. To do this, I tried to play different characteristics, often ones that would operate in conflict. For instance, at the start of the play: driven, cautious and through. By the end of the play: spirit-shaken, independent and confident. In playing with these characteristics, the relationships with other characters being to take shape and change. Macbeth’s motivation also changes as other characters bring in their personalities. In our version it is Seyton who kills Banquo rather than the unnamed murderers, however the text remains the same as the original. How does Macbeth convince Seyton to kills Banquo? It isn’t just because the text says it, it is because Macbeth finds ways to manipulate and influence Seyton’s mind. So as Seyton reacts to his words, Macbeth must adapt and change in order to achieve his objective. How he does this over the journey, with every character, cements him. Helena Devereux on playing Lady Macbeth, Soldier (witch) 1 and Ross One of the main challenges of this play for me was the speed of the changes in Lady Macbeth and Macbeth’s relationship. They obviously have a shared history which myself and John who plays Macbeth had to agree, using clues from the text. At the beginning of the play they are reunited after some time apart, we are then quickly accelerated towards a murder pact before things start to go wrong for them not too long after and the closeness of their relationship breaks down. It was these rapid gear changes in their relationship which were tricky to navigate as an actor. We explored these difficulties by improvising the ‘timeline’ of their relationship and by having a clear idea of the moments that happen for these characters off-stage that the audience don’t see.
I was also very keen to avoid playing the stereotype of Lady Macbeth as simply an evil manipulative woman – ‘evil’ is not an easy thing for an actor to play unless you’re in a pantomime and therefore it would give a very one-dimensional character. Instead I needed to look at what motivates her actions. Almost as soon as Lady Macbeth is introduced to the audience she is plotting Duncan’s murder. Therefore we need to fill in the story before the play begins in order to make her feel real. We can assume that this is the first time they have plotted a murder so why now? Is it purely down to the witches prophesies? Or were there frustrations already with their station in life that are spurred on by the prophesies. These choices about your characters backstory or history have to be made using clues in the text and best guesswork based on the text to fill in the rest – therefore each actor playing Lady Macbeth will have their own interpretation of her motives.
The other two characters I play only appear briefly so for them it was about making very clear choices with accent, body language and characteristics so that they were contrasting and therefore helped to keep the storytelling of the play clear. I thought of Soldier 1 as playful, fierce and sharp-witted. Ross is loyal, serious, strong and cautious. Again these are only my interpretations based on the script and the character’s relationships with others in the play.
Oliver Byng on playing Banquo and Malcolm Banquo: finding Banquo was not as easy as he is not very like me as a person. I found all the evidence in the text first of all of what others say about Banquo, that he is loyal, affectionate and ambitious and used this for his character. I tried various accents, at first Scottish but it conflicted with our Macbeth’s and settled finally on working class London as it felt more trusting and faithful and contrasted with Malcolm’s accent. I see Banquo as a hard worker and play him more heavy footed, masculine and soldierly than Malcolm.
Malcolm: to find distinction in Malcolm I looked into his royalty and divine right to be king. Growing up a Prince, he would have good posture, eloquence and be able to hold himself. Every line Malcolm has seems to be a plan or a test, I think he is incredibly clever and able to manipulate. I have a few scenes where I don’t speak or say very little and used these scenes to be an observer, to see everything that is happening around me.
To find my other two parts I looked at them more physically and we used an exercise in which we wrote down three physical attributes and three emotional attributes and I used these to find distinction in the very old, tired doctor and the youthful, playful and witty son of Macduff. John Cooper-Evans on playing Duncan, Macduff and Soldier (witch) 3 For me the best way to find a character is through the script. You often get a brief
description of the character e.g. Duncan, King of Scotland, so right from the start I
know he’s a man in authority which gives me a good idea on how he might stand and
walk. Then by reading the text I can see what he says which gives me an insight on
how the character views the world and the people in his life and also what people
say about him which can sometimes be even more helpful. This gives a good base
to build the character on.
Exploring and experimenting with how the character moves and talks helps me get
into the mind-set of the character. It’s important to not get fixed on one idea of this at
the beginning of rehearsals to allow space to change and add more layers to the
character you have built as you discover what the other actors are doing with theirs.
Having a distinct character is essential for multi-roleing which can of course be
assisted by different costumes. Both Macduff and Duncan are military men who
would have been trained to hold themselves a particular way and would be wearing
very similar clothing. Therefore I needed to make the distinctively different in their
voices, walks and a way they stand when at rest. I found that because Duncan was a
more open character I gave him big hand gestures whereas because Macduff is
more restrained and logical his moves are a lot sharper and never opens up his body
language.
For the soldiers (witches) we had to find a way to make them sinister and unsettling
but were keen to avoid playing them as creepy caricatures. We therefore went for
playing them naturally and real but for the most part emotionless and detached from
Macbeth’s situation.
Gemma Mann on playing Seyton, Lady Macduff and Soldier (witch) 2
For me, the hardest thing has been to learn how to adapt my body to act and react like a man not a woman. I studied differences in posture, gesture, walking, sitting and standing at rest. I also studied the movements of confident and nervous individuals - for example, a man who is very confident appears to lead with his knees and hips, whereas a man who is not, will lead with his shoulders and stoop with a curved-like back with his neck and chin facing down.
