Scenographic Ideas: Macbeth

1. Scenographic Ideas: Macbeth Robert Carey Elwood

2. Ideas I will be focusing on • Violence - what is the source of plays violence? • A humans downfall - how easy is it to corrupt a good person? • Temptation - by what means exactly are macbeth (and others?) turned evil? Thirst for power? Insecurity with masculinity?

3. A Dialectical Approach to Macbeth • Why would applying the techniques of dialectical (epic) theatre benefit a production of Macbeth? • The idea behind this technique, drawing attention to the play's artificiality (Brecht and Willett, 1964), will to make the audience consider the motives behind the actions of various characters, most importantly the likes of Macbeth, Lady Macbeth, Macduff and Malcolm. • The scenography will take an approach that attempts to show that the king's power only goes as far as their subjects are willing to follow them. • Additionally the corruption of Macbeth, Macduff, Lady Macbeth and Malcolm will all be visually shown.

4. Examples of Sets

5. Visual Approach with costume and Makeup • The comedy Man equals Man being a play of the parable type, unusual methods were adopted for its Berlin production. Stilts and wire clothes-hangers were used to turn the soldiers and their sergeant into exceptionally large and broad monsters. At the very end, the porter Galy Gay was transformed into a monster of the same sort (Brecht, Willett, and Manheim, 1994). • With this in mind the character of Macbeth will slowly be transformed into a monster in front of the audiences eyes, at first changes being subtle, coming across in the acting, however the changes will then begin to come across in makeup, in the costume etc… • The same technique will be applied for the characters of Macduff, Banquo and Duncan. • The overarching idea here, is to very clearly show the moments where Macbeth is being corrupted. The intended result is to distance the audience, and to make them consider what exactly happened to corrupt the character. • For example: What does Lady Macbeth do to convince Macbeth to kill Duncan? (does she challenge his masculinity, does she feed into his ambition? etc…). Likewise, what does Malcolm do to convince Macduff to kill Macbeth? (does he play on his guilt over the death of his family? Or does he give Macduff advice in dealing with his anger.

6. Projection • Soliloquies and monologues will be projected onto the screen, making the audience think about the implications of the words being said. This will mainly occur in conjunction with the moments where characters are showing visible signs of corruption. • Another moment where projections are used is Macbeth’s monologue before Duncan’s Death. • The events of every scene will also be projected to point audience attention towards the circumstances of how this will actually happen.

7. Kabuki Unrealistic sets will be used, however unlike traditional kabuki they will show darkness and violence under the surface of this society. The idea of this particular production will amplify the violence of the play, making it into a spectacle, actors playing Macbeth, Banquo, and Macduff in particular will all be playing their roles with heightened aggression. The darkness of this society will be shown through the plays set, the set will become increasingly dark, and awful as the play reaches it’s climax.

8. Sets • The sets will begin fairly traditionally, but will eventually become much darker, becoming increasingly so until the climax of the play. Upon the death of Macbeth the sets will become traditional once more.

9. Costumes and makeup • The makeup of villainous characters (Normally, red in colour, for villains, black for heroes) (Ortolani, 1995) will be seen from the beginning. • The violence of this play will continuously escalate as will the darkness of the stage design until the death of Macbeth.

14. Bibliography Brecht, B. and Willett, J. (1964) Brecht on theatre: The development of an aesthetic. Edited by Author Reviewer Marc Silberman and Steve Giles. New York, NY: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. Brecht, B., Willett, J. and Manheim, R. (1994) ‘Collected plays: ’‘Man equals man’‘, ’‘elephant calf’‘, ’‘Threepenny opera’‘, ’‘Mahagonny’‘, ’‘Seven deadly sins’‘ Vol 2 (Methuen world classics)’. London: Methuen Drama. Bonsai samurai scenery (no date) Available at: https://www.pinterest.com/ozflynx/bonsai-samurai-scenery/ (Accessed: 28 February 2017). Callan, P. (2009) Home. Available at: http://www.express.co.uk/entertainment/theatre/130594/Mother-Courage-And-Her-Children-Olivier-Theatre-London (Accessed: 28 February 2017). Camilleri, J., Amsterdam, J. moved to, singing, where she enjoys, choirs, amateur, nineteenth, especially, Italian, early twentieth century, opera, G. and songs, art (2015) Worthy Thane: Scott Hendricks is memorably maniacal in Dutch national opera’s Macbeth. Available at: https://bachtrack.com/review-macbeth-dutch-national-opera-april-2015 (Accessed: 28 Februrary 2017). Desk, B.N. (2016) Photo flash: First look at Jonathan cake and Marsha Stephanie Blake in MACBETH at the old globe. Available at: http://www.broadwayworld.com/san-diego/article/Photo-Flash-First-Look-at-Jonathan-Cake-and-Marsha-Stephanie-Blake-in-MACBETH-at-The-Old-Globe-20160624 (Accessed: 28 Februrary 2017). Ortolani, B. (1995) The Japanese theatre: From shamanistic ritual to contemporary pluralism. Princeton, NJ, United States: Princeton University Press. Shakespeare, W., Mowat, B.A. and Werstine, P. (2009) Macbeth: The DVD edition (Folger Shakespeare library). Available at: httpNow at the Young Vic until 23 Jan 2015... - Young Vic theatre (2017) Available at: https://www.facebook.com/youngvictheatre/photos/a.10153673960318346.1073741904.108136243345/10153673968578346/?type=3&theater (Accessed: 28 February 2017).s://www.amazon.com/Macbeth-DVD-Folger-Shakespeare-Library/dp/1439172250 (Accessed: 2 March 2017). 6492, naomi (2013) Macbeth: Trafalgar studios. Available at: https://nearlythereyet.wordpress.com/2013/04/10/macbeth-trafalgar-studios/ (Accessed: 28 Februrary 2017).