Roanoke College's Production of
Macbeth
Ambition and the desire to attain power
are driving forces in Macbeth as
well as timeless aspirations. They
are as prevalent today as they were in the
times of James, as well as in 11th century when
the real MacBeth reigned.
This production takes that ageless desire for power into
account and
allows the show to take place at any time when war is
a constant in life.
At the very heart of this tragedy
lies witchcraft. Many productions limit
the role of the witches to that
of a catalyst. The witches in this production
do much more. They plot to get Duncan's
son Malcolm on the throne. They
even disguise themselves as others to lead the characters
to action and thought.
In the end, they win the prize. Malcolm is on the
throne.
We cut very little from the script.
Those who came to our production heard mostly the same lines as
James' court heard. We did change who delivered
lines. Most messengers the script called for
where played by the witches.
The witches also played doctors, lords, soldiers and
so on.
We also cast the roles non gender
specific. Since this was taking place at
no specific time, we did not
believe the gender of the soldiers would matter.
Pictures from our production:
Before we opened:
1.
Lydia, Nikaya, Lauren being very attentive during rehearsal
2.
Combat warmups
3.
Chris and Gavin choreographing the big fight scene
between Macduff and Macbeth
4. Notes
5.
Dr. Schafer watching her Macbeth
come to life.
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