Macbeth

Macbeth is a very well-known play written by William Shakespeare about conflict between nobleman in Scotland. The play includes many plot twists that continues to engage the reader throughout the play. Because of its popularity Macbeth has been produced many times, with some productions representing medieval Scotland while others aiming to perfectly represent Shakespeare’s thoughts and others recreating a very different version of the play. The various representations of the play show that this play has a lot to work with, in the sense that Shakespeare leaves much to the imagination of the reader. As a reader, this play was fascinating to me because it did not end the way I expected, and it held my attention until the end of the play. I also

learned from reading Macbeth that one should leave the future to destiny and not try and alter their life path, drastically, as Macbeth did in the play. Macbeth’s decision to try and fulfill his destiny, instead of accepting it and living his life, caused all of the conflicts in the play. In my own production of the play I would use Macbeth’s decision as my central conflict and I would include multiple areas of design and a couple of the four elements important to productions. This would allow me to keep the plot of the play similar to the original, but also add my own imagination to make the production exactly what I would want it to be.
As the director of Macbeth, there are many important elements I would want to include in the production.

The purpose of the production is to convey the lesson of allowing your destiny to fulfill itself instead of trying to alter it. Macbeth made the decision to try and fulfill his destiny before he was meant too, leading to conflicts throughout the play. Macbeth first heard about his destiny after meeting three witches. This scene is important to the play because Macbeth makes a lot of his decisions based on what the witches say. That being said, it would be crucial for me to make sure this scene is well represented in my production of the play. To portray this scene, I would focus on the costumes of the actors and the lighting of the scene. It is important that the actors not look as if they are part of a Halloween parade. To successfully complete this, I would put the actors in slightly raggedy clothing that was long and bulky. I would have them centered around a cauldron with fog, from a fog machine, rising around the witches. The lighting would be slightly dim around the scene with light lighting on the cauldron to emphasize the fog. The lighting and costumes of the actors would lead the audience to believe that Macbeth and Banquo are receiving a prophecy from

witches.
In the next couple of scenes Macbeth and Banquo discuss what they were just told by the witches and Macbeth invites the King to his castle. When the King arrives to the castle, he would have some of his nobleman with him. Another aspect of this play that is important is making the audience aware of the hierarchy of the characters during the play. For this scene I would dress the King in clean and extravagant clothing and he would be wearing a crown. The noblemen would be in less extravagant clothing and the clothing would not fit as well as the King’s clothing. The King would be in front of all the noblemen and the noblemen would not be able to pass an imaginary line surrounding the King without permission. This would express that the King is above the noblemen and has a right to space and a better appearance.
During the King’s time at Macbeth’s castle, Lady Macbeth and Macbeth plan to kill the King and murder him while he is asleep. In the production, Macbeth would see a dagger on the ground on his way to the King’s chambers. The lighting of this scene would be dim but light enough to be able to see the texture of the perforated dagger and the red coloring on the end of the dagger. This gives foreshadowing to more people dying later in the play. Macbeth would be dressed in slightly raggedy clothing to portray how he is feeling about killing the King. When Macbeth sees Lady Macbeth after the murder, there would be red-colored splotches on his clothes and his hands would also be covered in blood. Macbeth would be lead off stage towards the bathroom by Lady Macbeth. The porter would then appear in very raggedy clothing. His hair would be tousled, and he would be unshaven to represent that he is lower than Macbeth and especially the King. This would also elude to the fact that the porter is not very responsible because he has been drinking. The act would end with Duncan’s sons finding their father dead on the bed. There would be lumpy human-shaped blankets on the bed with red stains on them to be the dead King. Duncan’s sons would flee, and the lights would be diminished.
In Act three, Macbeth would be dressed in clothes similar to Duncan’s clothing to represent him being the new King. Macbeth plots Banquo and Fleance’s murders and when the two murderers come to speak with the King, they would be in black clothing. The murderers would then go kill Banquo and Fleance and the lighting for this scene is important too. The lights would be low and mysterious because the murderer kill Banquo, but Fleance would run off stage and disappear. Duncan’s son Malcolm says he is going to create an army and go attack Macbeth and get revenge for his father and Banquo. The act would end with Malcolm plotting his return.
Macbeth visits the witches again in the beginning of act four and it would be important to convey this scene well. I would have the witches in similar clothing with the same setup containing the cauldron and the fog machine as the earlier scene. While Macbeth is with the witches, Malcolm is building his army and allies and preparing for war. Act fur would end with Malcolm and Macduff making plans of attack.
The fifth and final scene is very important to the play because it is when the battle occurs.

Before the battle occurs, Lady Macbeth dies which upsets Macbeth and makes him anxious. While Malcom’s army is approaching, they chop down trees and, in the production, I would make the army very structured; each soldier would be in a line holding their tree. Each soldier would be in armor and the lights would be bright, but the lights would allude to a cloudy day. As the battle begins and is coming to an end, Macbeth and Macduff fight and for this scene the actors would be wearing armor, with Macbeth’s armor being slightly shinier than Macduff’s. The scene would end with the characters fighting. The play would end after Macduff arrives carrying a head-shaped bag, that is supposed to be Macbeth’s head, and Malcolm is declared King. The last scene would be Malcolm, dressed in clothes fit for a king, eating dinner with all his nobleman having a great

time.
The lighting and costumes of my production would be very important to the overall production. These elements lead the audience to believe certain aspects that are happening within the play. By the end of the play, the audience would understand that the point of the production was to teach them not to try and fulfill their destiny, but to let destiny fulfill itself. This play was fascinating, and I would use what I found intriguing to guide my production to success.