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I was Banquo back at the start of the year, in a version of Macbeth that was basically the Vikings version of the story (set in the historically accurate period, beards, more stabbing, etc.). It was awesome- apparently they also went that way with the new film adaptation. I never realized the extent to which Shakespeare's visions of comedy and horror persist to this day, and Macbeth is a hell of a horror movie. In the version I was in, we had the witches take the part of the murderers, because otherwise they have a big chunk of play with nothing to do and the only woman with a fight scene is Lady MacDuff (and little MacDuff, can't remember her name.). They took the role of choosers of the slain, and Banquo has figured that out by the time they come for him. So after getting through all the big "Macbeth decides to totally kill Banquo and pretty much whoever else," it was amazing how tightly the scene where Banquo dies is. It's basically just Banquo challenging the murderers with "It'll be rain tonight," and the leader responding with "let it come down!" It's crazy. I just saw 12th Night and adaptations of The Tempest. This stuff still carries so much weight - and it really does seem to be unique. I was part of a group of people trying to put together scripts for a season at a theater and his contemporaries do not read the same or have the same power. They feel ancient. Dusty in a way Shakespeare doesn't. Did anyone see the new Macbeth? Is it any good? Bearing in mind that Kenneth Branagh is my favorite existing adaptor of Shakespeare, because good taste is something that happens to other people.
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Sep 17, 2015 22:46
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Raxivace posted:Was it just the same actresses as the witches playing the murderers, or were they literally playing the same characters? Same actors, same characters - the Witches basically did everything the murderers do in the original play. It's a smaller change than you'd think and helped support the thesis of the show which is that the Witches are setting Macbeth up from the beginning and doing what he wants just to bring about the ultimate battle between a righteous man wronged and a blood-soaked animal getting his comeuppance. It also meant that I had to swab the stage with three female actors with a spear, catch a shield thrown to me by a nine year old and get it in line to stop getting three-on-one swarmed, and then get killed, nastily, with a spear, axe, and two daggers all at once. It was awesome. I could talk about the fights all day - we also had the battle that opens the show actually take place on stage (lovingly known as Macbeth and Banquo Kill The Rest of the Cast) and Lady Macduff and the child get their chance too, I think the kid got to stab one of the witches in the kidney in her fight. Made the whole thing much more female-oriented, which since Macbeth's impotence/infertility and Lady Macbeth's emphasis on childbearing is such a part of the plot, made a lot of sense to me.
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Sep 18, 2015 00:44
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