Directing Act 4 Scene 1 of Macbeth
Directing Act 4 Scene 1 of Macbeth
I have chosen is Act 4 Scene 1 of Mac Beth by William Shakespeare. I have chose to direct this as a stage production as it will be more interesting and easy than other scenes. Also I believe that this scene will be the most entertaining than other scenes and will also be able to make a bigger effect on the chosen audience. This scene includes the witches and other things about witches, the apparitions and other aspects that can be shown in special ways to the audience. This play will be set in an African scene mainly Ghanaian.
The scene starts off with the witches brewing up a spell then Mac Beth enters and wishes for his fortune to be told. This is where the apparitions appear and each in turn gives Mac Beth a brief description of his future. I believe these apparitions could be done in such a way to make the audience scared. Lennox comes in and tells Mac Beth that Mac duff has fled to England to build up an army against him; Mac Beth says 'kill his family' so Lennox leaves the stage.
This scene I would say is the most active scene and will not get boring for the audience who are watching it, as there are many actions keeping the play rolling.
I will be able to create an atmosphere with the audience using lighting and sound as they have the most potential to make atmosphere and feeling. On the whole I would say that the entire run of Mac Beth is a play of illusions, it shows the effect on humans of the mysterious or supernatural for example the witches that appear in this scene and the dagger which appears in the act before, I could also say that it is an exploration of language due to the fact that it shows how a poet uses language and imagery to imaginative effect.
I would set the Mac Beth play in a big theatre that has special effects on light and sound. This would add effect to the sound and lighting of the play, therefore causing a more dramatic and more enjoyable feel to the audience. I think in Shakespeare's time the stage needed to be quite dense or else you wouldn't get the feel of the witches being scary and everything will be easily seen so it wouldn't be so easy to move for the next scene. The witches would have very serious and sick faces to create an impression ...
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I would set the Mac Beth play in a big theatre that has special effects on light and sound. This would add effect to the sound and lighting of the play, therefore causing a more dramatic and more enjoyable feel to the audience. I think in Shakespeare's time the stage needed to be quite dense or else you wouldn't get the feel of the witches being scary and everything will be easily seen so it wouldn't be so easy to move for the next scene. The witches would have very serious and sick faces to create an impression that they r a bit insane, as then it would also give the feel of 'evil' to the audience. I don't want the seating area to be tall since I would like my audience to see the content of the cauldron whilst the apparitions are appearing. It will be set out as a cave, with bumpy, dirty walls and a blackened floor, skeletons of dead animals, snakeskins and earthenware bowls. This is because I want the audience to concentrate on the main part of the play and to create the scary impression and make the audience look in the cauldron at the same time concentrate on the apparitions In the scene the witches are gathering round a black and smoky cauldron inside a dark and gloomy cave, the cave will have surrounding trees as if it were in the middle of a forest. The stage will be full of dry ice to create the mysterious atmosphere.
The cauldron will be situated near the middle but a little to the left so it is the centre of attraction. Most of the action will take place on stage apart from when the apparitions appear, as Mac Beth and the witches will be back from the cauldron leaving lots of room for the apparitions. To direct this play properly I would need a number of props, starting with the ingredients that are placed into the spell that the witches make up. These could be in jars placed on shelves at the back of the stage, the witches shall pick them up in the jar and throw the figures in the cauldron, whilst saying what it is, for example in a creaky and loud voice 'One little finger to add texture' then they would put the jar back on the shelf.
Most of the props needed for the scene. Other props also may be needed when the apparitions appear, for example the third apparition is a child crowned with a tree in his hand and for this you need a little tree and a crown to place on the child's head.
The witches will all be women, quite young in their 20's, with a mixture of hair colours i.e. black,grey,brown wet with fake blood and mud at the tips. They tie cloths around their waist to their necks, with bare feet and rusted toenails and fingernails. To make them look scary they will have no make up but rather very dirty faces, this leaves them looking scary and more like witches to cause an atmosphere. Also the apparitions may need make-up for example there is a bloody child so that needs fake blood.
Their clothes may need to be a bit dirty and screwed up to give the feel that its damp and dirty in the cave and that they don't often change their clothes.
I want the audience to be scared of them as if they were watching a 3D movie. And generally it makes it more exciting and makes them want to watch more. The witches would have been taken so seriously by the Jacobean audience because they were made to look scary and that's what Shakespeare thought would intrigue the audience and make them want to watch on.
The scene will generally be dark but about every 3-4 minutes the stage must flicker to give the feel that there is lightening going on outside, when the apparitions appear there will be a spotlight on them to make sure that the audience is only focusing on them and nothing else also it may make them look a little scarier, also when they appear I would like there to be a fast drumming sound i.e. (broom broom broom broom) then a halt, and a puff of smoke to show they are appearing. This would be done with a fontonfrom drum because Ghanaians believe that drum signifies a talking soul.
At the beginning of the scene when they are casting a spell the light should be directly on them so that it's a shock when Mac Beth appears in the middle of the stage.
There are many special effects in this scene especially when the apparitions appear. I think it would be better if they were props and they were either hung from the roof and pulled up out of the cauldron, as this would be most effective including dry ice surrounding the stage. I will use trapdoors, which will be placed at the bottom of the cauldron so it is easy to change the props for each apparition. The witches will enter and exit the stage by side doors allowing them to go backstage and get ready for their next showing.
There maybe a few times when sound is needed for example once the witches enter and they start saying 'Double double toil and trouble, Fire burns and cauldron bubble' then after a bang will sound and also when the apparitions appear to give the feel of chanting when the witches are brewing up there spell then a little light banging may occur. Sound effects will be needed at the beginning of the scene for the thunder and lightening aspect, which will occur at the time of the witches brewing their spell.
The language in this play is often recurring for example witches say at the beginning- 'Double double toil and trouble, Fire burns and cauldron bubble' this paragraph occurs quite a few times during the scene. I can use this speech for example to make the audience feel the witches are perhaps in some way mentally disturbed. The language that takes place in this scene is often confusing in the sense that it is old English and is very hard to understand. Although it would have been the right language for the Jacobean times and many people if not all the people then, would have understood much better that the people today. The language used reminds people of a horror story maybe as horror stories are normally set back in time to create a more mystery and unkemptness to the plot.
Ideally I would like the audience to react in a few different ways. Initially I would like them to be so intrigued with the performance that they want to watch on and see what happens next and also I would want them to follow the plot well enough to put themselves in the characters shoes and understand how they are feeling. One other thing I would like them to feel is how the Jacobean audience felt, which was a little scared of the witches and amazed at the effects that were performed. I want the audience to be flabbergasted as well as petrified.
