Direct a production of Shakespeare's play "Macbeth" focusing in on act 1 scene 1.

        As “Macbeth” is a play about evil, treason, greed and tragedy, I feel that the opening scene is a very significant part of the play. In various productions, the opening scene has been presented in different ways. In my production, I will situate my production on a stage, I chose to use a stage presents because in contrast, I found that in the BBC Shakespeare the presents of the stage is very commanding and is controlling. What I mean by this is that it appealed to me more because it was staged in the era that Macbeth was written in which is Elizabethan times. However in the Middle English Programme the director chose to use a film production. This meant he could use camera trickery and in addiction to this he could chose a setting and theme that he felt best empathised the play Macbeth. However I found that The Middle English Programme was too modern and unrealistic to the time of Macbeth. This is why I chose not to use a film production because in Elizabethan times cameras and modern equipment would not have been used and I feel this destroys the symbolism and the bygone of the play Macbeth. The setting that I will create will be set in rustic, mysterious moorland conditions. The witches are staged around a blazing fire and lying camouflaged beneath a thick mass of debris from the trees and the general agricultural ness of the moorland. I have chose to use a similar setting as to the BBC Shakespeare. The BBC Shakespeare chose to use a bleak, medieval setting. They used 3 raised platforms that represented the stone age affect, with dark grey granite slabs formed in the shape of a circle, this gave the impression as though it were a place that special events took place like crucifixion. They were trying to use biblical events to create this antiquated and timeworn presents over the audience. This I felt was very affective as it made me feel as though I had gone back in time and that I was reliving my life in biblical times. They had made the witches to look as though they were large piles of rock lying upon these 3 raised platforms. They used a red glow of light on the background of the scene to make it feel as though it was the sunset falling down behind the platforms and the mountainous affect. This then changed to a misty grey as though nightfall had fallen and something mysterious was going to happen. On the other hand The Middle English Programme was set in a barren, isolated and exposed piece of countryside that was far away from any civilisation. The director chose to make it look as though it were a landfill site that had been abandoned with large pools of water that swamped the land and areas of marsh. Debris lay across the land as though war had taken place and that the land had died from war. The setting then moved into an enclosed area of land that looked like a dumping yard. It was here were the 3 witches scavenged amongst rubble while a fire burned in the middle of the 3 witches. Next I am going to look at the atmosphere of the play. In my production I want to create an intense, vicious and murderous atmosphere. This will enthral and intimidate my audience; I will show this by using ear piercing crashing noises of thunder with the rumble of distant thunder and lightening noises. I will have the quick; sharp bursts of light as though lightening had hit the stage and a total eclipse of the moon that is covered with a crawling thick dark murk of fog. I have used the total eclipse of a moon because it symbolises a momentous event and that something eccentric and bizarre was going to happen. I have chose to use some of the ideas of the director of The BBC Shakespeare although I have include some of my own ideas to provoke and disturb my audience. In The BBC Shakespeare the director chose to use a vibrant glowing red light that made the stage look alive and spirited this mood then transformed into a dark obscure overcast, that filled the whole scene with a darkness and sombre emotion. I think the director is trying to get the audience engaged in the play by changing the mood and style, from this I feel that he is trying to tell the audience that during the day life upon the stones is peaceful and dead, but when night falls life on the stones comes alive and begins. This tells the audience a lot because it’s telling the audience that something inhuman and spell binding was going to occur. They continued this fierce atmosphere with what looked to be bundles of rocks gathered upon the large raised platforms. One at a time the three bundles of rocks or what I thought were rocks gradually stood in a hunched back position upon the large raised platforms. This created an atmosphere in the audience because the audience questioned the three figures saying “who are they and what are they?” Well this is what I feel would have happened because they didn’t look human and they certainly were unsightly to look at from a distance. However, the Middle English Programme decided they would create the atmosphere as though the land was at war and that life was inexistent. They continued this theme by adding in a continuous gunfire in the background that builds up the intensity and menacing effect of war. They also did this by having a large exposed land looking cold and grim with a thick sheet of mist shaded throughout the province. The director then moved into the large dumping ground were a fire blazed in the middle of three women who were scavenging in the waste. I feel that the fire creates the atmosphere of danger because in society the colour red usual warns people that something is dangerous and you should stay away. They also used a drumbeat that speeded up as the camera moved across land and into the dumping ground this put extreme strain on what would happen next. As for my three witches, I want them to be come across as being gruesome, ghastly and grotesque. They will all be unified in long rags and shrouds that cover their flesh from head to toe only revealing some flesh. I chose to do this because I feel that in the play Macbeth the witches symbolise the father, son and the Holy Spirit in religious terms, because Macbeth was written in Elizabethan times people felt strongly of their religion and that it was disturbing to see women being so unclean and incrusted and impaled with thick dirt, their hands being yellow and skinned to the bone, their faces being covered in large moles with masculine facial hair and a pale sickening colour of skin as though they had been sick for years. This is why people seen witches as being evil, ruthless and frightening and inhuman characters. I chose to use a similar costume and appearance to that of The BBC Shakespeare because I felt it left an impression on how society was like in Elizabethan and how witches were seen in those days. In the BBC Shakespeare the witches were dressed in long rags and shrouds that cover their flesh from head to toe and only revealing their faces and their hands. Their faces wrinkled and shrivelled up like old hags with masses of dirt impaled in their faces and large warts and moles found covering their noises. Whereas in the Middle English Programme the director chose to make the witches look as though they were travelling people with no money and needed to scavenge through other peoples waste. They were dressed in modern society clothing although they were unattractive and fierce to look upon. Their teeth rooting in decay and a dark yellow, their skin tramped with dirt with no air to breath. Although upon each witch was a red piece of clothing either worn as a scarf or a headband. This made me think that these witches were wicked, foul, spiteful people who were there to cause trouble. It can reminds me of the fire, as the director chose the colour red to symbolise that these witches were cruel, vicious and dangerous species. In the language section of my play, I will be using Shakespearean text. In Elizabethan times people spoke …