Macbeth Video Assignment

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Macbeth Video Assignment Macbeth is a famous play written by William Shakespeare in 1606, which shows the negative effects of power and wealth. Throughout history, the play has changed slightly to add dramatic effect. For example, the Rubert Goold version is set during a modern war, while the original version was in medieval Europe. Changes like this make the play more relatable for modern audiences, but also change the overall feeling of the play. Are these changes helpful to the play, or damaging? The plays have different settings, but manage to keep the theme of the original play intact. In Act I, Scene I, the setting is dark, with an evil feeling. I always imagined this scene taking place outside in dark woods, with a slight overcast. …show more content…

Overall, I was expecting the opening scene to be closely aligned with original. In the version by BBC, the setting is close to what I expected. There were three witches in brown ropes sitting in a circle. There was thunder in the background with a severe outcast. On the other hand, the acting wasn’t what I expected. The lines were delivered in a friendly way between the witches, which I felt took away from the overall feeling of this scene. Secondly, the version re-done by Goold was set during a modern war, similar to World War II. The environment was hectic and had a soldier dying at a medic station. The soldier was transported underground and delivered to three nurses. The nurses were wearing all black and had masks that covered their faces. In the background, there were screams and turmoil. The nurses began operating on the soldier, but killed him instead. After this, the lights began turning off one by one, while the nurses were speaking their lines. The delivery of the lines was exactly what I expected. The nurses were aggressive towards each other. In the end, all the lights were shut off and the nurses repeatedly said, “Fair is foul, and foul is fair,” while moving towards the camera. Obviously, the setting of the two plays are dramatically different. The BBC version kept true to Shakespeare, while Goold’s version had a new take on the opening scene. These

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