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Post by newt5996 on Oct 26, 2017 3:12:11 GMT
I have currently been thinking recently more depressed thoughts. A friend of mine is dead in a hiking accident and I am having difficulty coming to terms with it so I've done what I normally do and turn to literature. This time a quick reading of Shakespeare's Macbeth and its themes of power corrupting, the frailties of life, and manipulation of fate. A few notes of speculation that have happened as I read:
First the Witches and the Murderers, there are three each and an artistic direction would be to double cast them to make a point that they might just be the same people or a figment of Macbeth's imagination. Possibly as beautiful women.
Second the floating dagger and Lady Macbeth's sleepwalking. Cover everyone in blood for the scenes or create a hallucinogenic atmosphere, but contrast the imagery with Banquo's ghost being totally clean. Maybe have all the costuming be a modern dress with a focus on upper class dressings. Do Birnum Wood off stage.
Third, do it in a blank set, maybe evoking the human mind, or have Big Finish adapt it into audio with little to no sound design in any supernatural scenes, scenes of battle. Keep moments quiet.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 26, 2017 12:23:25 GMT
Interesting idea to have the Witches as a figment of Macbeth's psyche, I don't think I've seen that interpretation of them before. I've always seen them as an external force who are influencing the line of kings. For kicks or something more substantial is... well, open to interpretation. They seem to almost favour Banquo at the end because they leave him and his line alone, so the question becomes... what exactly were their motives? Genuinely malevolent and sadistic, preying on the weaknesses of Macbeth's character or instead more calculated, accelerating his otherwise tyrannical reign towards its natural conclusion with portents? Perhaps to bring Banquo's legacy to power sooner?
They're very interesting characters, a lot of different ways to take them to and fro. I suspect that the less malevolent, more calculating angle is influenced a little bit by the Lancre coven (Granny Weatherwax's lot) in Discworld.
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Post by newt5996 on Oct 26, 2017 16:02:32 GMT
Interesting idea to have the Witches as a figment of Macbeth's psyche, I don't think I've seen that interpretation of them before. I've always seen them as an external force who are influencing the line of kings. For kicks or something more substantial is... well, open to interpretation. They seem to almost favour Banquo at the end because they leave him and his line alone, so the question becomes... what exactly were their motives? Genuinely malevolent and sadistic, preying on the weaknesses of Macbeth's character or instead more calculated, accelerating his otherwise tyrannical reign towards its natural conclusion with portents? Perhaps to bring Banquo's legacy to power sooner? They're very interesting characters, a lot of different ways to take them to and fro. I suspect that the less malevolent, more calculating angle is influenced a little bit by the Lancre coven (Granny Weatherwax's lot) in Discworld. I really need to read more Discworld (Only have the first two books and will probably get more come Christmas) |
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Post by sherlock on Oct 26, 2017 16:38:29 GMT
First the Witches and the Murderers, there are three each and an artistic direction would be to double cast them to make a point that they might just be the same people or a figment of Macbeth's imagination. Possibly as beautiful women. Very interesting idea. I hadn't ever considered the idea of the murderers as part of his psyche but it fits well, him attempting to detach himself from his guilt of the murders (as presumably if the murderers aren't real that means Macbeth himself killed McDuff's family...). Another take is based on the fact that in the scene where Macbeth recruits the murderers there only appear to be two of them (at least according to the stage directions a story I remember them) but in the actual murder scene there are three. One production I heard of took advantage of this and had the third murderer be Macbeth himself in disguise, which certainly ups the (direct) blood on Macbeth's hands considerably. Macbeth more than any other of Shakespeare's plays is open to such interpretation. Some productions show a real dagger in front of him in the famous monologue, others don't. One production I heard of didn't even have Banquo appear in the ghost scene, just having Macbeth react to nothing, as the guests see it. These are small changes in the grand scheme of the play but do alter the audience's perspective on events quite considerably. |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 28, 2017 1:41:12 GMT
Interesting idea to have the Witches as a figment of Macbeth's psyche, I don't think I've seen that interpretation of them before. I've always seen them as an external force who are influencing the line of kings. For kicks or something more substantial is... well, open to interpretation. They seem to almost favour Banquo at the end because they leave him and his line alone, so the question becomes... what exactly were their motives? Genuinely malevolent and sadistic, preying on the weaknesses of Macbeth's character or instead more calculated, accelerating his otherwise tyrannical reign towards its natural conclusion with portents? Perhaps to bring Banquo's legacy to power sooner? They're very interesting characters, a lot of different ways to take them to and fro. I suspect that the less malevolent, more calculating angle is influenced a little bit by the Lancre coven (Granny Weatherwax's lot) in Discworld. I really need to read more Discworld (Only have the first two books and will probably get more come Christmas) I highly recommend them. The late, great Terry Pratchett always had something meaningful in his stories and Discworld only feels a hop, skip and a jump removed from Doctor Who, so the gap across isn't as wide as it looks. I have a particular fondness for the stories with Death in them (he's such a nice chap), but the City Watch stories tend to be very popular. I think you might have a very keen interest in the Witches stories though, particularly Wyrd Sisters which is their take on Shakespeare. The animated version might be worth seeing for nothing else than Christopher Lee as Death shouting: I'ᴠᴇ ᴄᴏᴍᴇ ᴛᴏ ɢᴇᴛ ʏᴏᴜ, ʏᴏᴜ ᴛᴇʀʀɪʙʟᴇ ᴀᴄᴛᴏʀ! First the Witches and the Murderers, there are three each and an artistic direction would be to double cast them to make a point that they might just be the same people or a figment of Macbeth's imagination. Possibly as beautiful women. Very interesting idea. I hadn't ever considered the idea of the murderers as part of his psyche but it fits well, him attempting to detach himself from his guilt of the murders (as presumably if the murderers aren't real that means Macbeth himself killed McDuff's family...). Another take is based on the fact that in the scene where Macbeth recruits the murderers there only appear to be two of them (at least according to the stage directions a story I remember them) but in the actual murder scene there are three. One production I heard of took advantage of this and had the third murderer be Macbeth himself in disguise, which certainly ups the (direct) blood on Macbeth's hands considerably. Macbeth more than any other of Shakespeare's plays is open to such interpretation. Some productions show a real dagger in front of him in the famous monologue, others don't. One production I heard of didn't even have Banquo appear in the ghost scene, just having Macbeth react to nothing, as the guests see it. These are small changes in the grand scheme of the play but do alter the audience's perspective on events quite considerably. I love that about theatre. There are so many ways to tell the same story just with a different emphasis. The Rashomon effect. A couple months (maybe a year?) ago we went to see an adaptation of The Hollow and it was interesting to see how the actors change their performance slightly depending on how things feel. Closing night was interesting because the woman playing the old eccentric, Lucy Angkatell, wasn't the killer, but gave the impression that she and her butler almost certainly offed her husband in her backstory. A pause here, a smile there and suddenly a whole block of dialogue had a different, more sinister undertone to it. |
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