It soon becomes clear that these bundles of rags are in fact women. They are the weird sisters or witches in the play and they are shown in this version as old and ugly. The director has chosen to present them as unattractive and menacing and everything about this scene is threatening and ugly and makes the audience feel uncomfortable impact on the audience. The music is like funeral music loud and sad. The witches are old and ugly and dressed from head and faces are wrinkle and encrusted with dirt and warts. Their nails are yellowed and repulsive. Everything about them including their voices is aimed at making the audience feel hostile towards them.
They look, sound and are evil. They also create a sense of confusion as they speak in riddles:
"When the hurly-burly’s done"
"When the battles lost and won"
The audience don't know at the start what this mean"^, How can a battle be lost and won? It becomes clear later that Macbeth has won a great battle against the witches when he is tempted to kill King Duncan. This battle he loses. The witches also confuse the audience when they say
"Fair is foul and foul is fair
Hover though the fog and filthy air.
Putting two words that are opposites side by side is an oxymoron. The effect of this on the audience is to confuse them and make them feel that things aren't right. These lines also refer to one of the themes in the play-the idea that not every thing it seems. For example the witches seem to give Macbeth. Good news Macbeth seems to be a brave and. loyal solder. Lady Macbeth seems to be perfect hostess. But in each of these examples and others in the play they are not what they seem.
The other interesting idea within these lines "Fair is foul..." is that the very first words Macbeth speaks in the play are.’So fair and foul a day I have not seen'
He is of course referring to the weather and to the victories battle he has just come from. But these words echo the words spoken by the witches and link them and him together in the mind of the audience as the witches are evil and associated with Macbeth. This adds to the confusion and chaos created in the opening scene as the audience is told that Macbeth is going to meet with the witches "ere the set of sun" Why would the witches want to meet with Macbeth? What could they possibly have in common? As the play progresses we see just how much Macbeth allows him to be influenced by the witches.
So the BBC Shakespeare version uses an empty landscape, greyish lighting, unattractive looking sounds and solemn music to create a sad and eerie atmosphere
The opening scene in the second production is different in The Middle English programme the setting is daylight in a disused quarry or dump site. We are shown fires burning loud explosions-of battle in the background and dumped shop dummies broken television sets burnt out cars and wounded/dead bodies.
The witches are shown first. They are played by^ women who are dressed as beggars or tramps. They wear layers of clothing and head dresses of varying sorts. Each one wears something red to symbolise perhaps the bloodshed and murder that is to follow. Their faces are clearly visible and while they aren't as ugly as the ones in the other version there is something unpleasant about them. They speak to each other using an edited version of the original text.
The music used is fast paced. The lighting is bright. The scene is colourful and the overall effect of this opening is different from the BBC one. There is a sense of excitement and urgency achieved by the rapid delivery of their lines -their quick movements as they pack up and prepares for Macbeth's arrival and the fast music and drum beat that is part of this scene. Therefore while the BBC Shakespeare is slow dark and solemn suggesting the play is a tragedy, The Middle English Programme suggests a frantic excited play of action and pace.
I preferred the more modem filmed version because it was easier to understand because they where acting it out in a more modem way.