THE SCOTTISH PLAY Scenography research for William Shakespeares

THE SCOTTISH PLAY Scenography research for William Shakespeare’s Macbeth. -by Orlaith O’Brien

ABOUT THE PLAY: • Written in 1605 or 1606 • The only one of Shakespeare’s works to be set in Scotland • Based on actual events detailed in Holinshed’s Chronicles • May have been inspired to write it as a response to James VI’s ascension to the English throne • Key references and imagery: babies, blood, witchcraft, light and darkness, heaven and hell, the occult, the power of three

SCENOGRAPHY BY OTHER PEOPLE Interesting designs in past productions

ITHACA SHAKESPEARE COMPANY 2010 Set design by J. G Hertzler (Photo Credit: http: //ithacashakespeare. org/prod/201007/ design. php)

ABOUT THIS PRODUCTION • Production took place outdoors • As well as the performance stage, there was a promenade portion where the audience could wander through different environments linked to the play, eg the witches grove • The performance stage was designed with practicality and key imagery in mind • (http: //ithacashakespeare. org/prod/20 1007/gallery. php)

YUKIO NINAGAWA'S MACBETH, 1980 (Photo Credit: https: //sia. stanford. edu/gallery. html)

MACBETH ON THE JAPANESE STAGE • Ninagawa’s aim was to make Shakespeare more accessible to a Japanese audience by fusing the work with familiar images and reference’s in Japanese culture. • His staging and set design transported the setting from medieval Scotland to 16 th century feudal Japan.

THE SET DESIGN • The set was a large Buddhist Altar • Which Alexander Huang comments: ‘serves as a gateway to other worlds. The altar compels the audience to dwell upon memories of the dead and the fault line between the sacred and the secular. ’ • (http: //globalshakespeares. mit. edu/mac beth-ninagawa-yukio-1985/) • (http: //globalshakespeares. mit. edu/blog/ 2014/07/20/yukio-ninagawa-as-a-greatshakespearean/)

MACBETH AT BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY, 2010 Set designed by Gary C. Benson (Photo Credit: http: //garycbenson. blogspot. ie/2012_06_0 1_archive. html)

GARY BENSON’S SET DESIGN • Staged in a Black Box Theatre • The director of the production wanted the set to be simple yet complex • Little furniture was used. There was trapdoors for the witches to exit and enter through. • Most interesting decisions were painting the map of Scotland onto the ground and the use of the cauldron for the eight kings, Banquo, Macduff, and the little boy to enter through.

SCOTTISH PLAY GETS POLISH MAKEOVER Headline from The New York Times, 2008 Directed by: Grzegorz Jarzyna (Photo credit: http: //obrazprzejsciowy. blogspot. ie/2012/0 9/xx. html)

ABOUT THIS PRODUCTION…… • First performed in 2005 over four levels of an old warehouse in Warsaw • The director wanted to focus on ‘the culture of war’ and was influenced by the war in the Middle East • The director aimed to blur the lines between film and tv • Use of screens, projections, pyrotechnics, soundscape, lots of fake blood • The production did not shy away from the violence that tinges everyone and everything in Macbeth

THE NEW YORK PRODUCTION • Staged in an old warehouse in Brooklyn • Set and props were shipped directly from Poland • Photo Credit : http: //www. nytimes. com/2008/06/11/the ater/11 macbeth. html

PHOTOS FROM THE EDINBURGH FRINGE FESTIVAL • Staged in a warehouse near Edinburgh Warehouse • Top photo: Use of multimedia. (http: //culture. pl/en/artist/grzegorz-jarzyna ) • Bottom Photo: Influenced by the war in Iraq, Jaryzna uses a set resembling a Mosque. https: //www. theguardian. com/stage/2012/aug/1 2/macbeth-2008 -tr-warszawa )

SCENOGRAPHY BY ME Two different and distinct designs for Macbeth

DESIGN NO. 1: INSPIRATION FROM THE KABUKI STAGE • Interested in the idea that the Kabuki stage rarely uses shadow • Also interested in the nature of the painted backdrops used in Kabuki theatre. • ‘In Kabuki backdrop paintings there are often several vanishing points on one picture plane. As a result, the audience does not perceive a unity of space on stage. Since the point of views is not limited to a single one, from whatever position the audience sees the stage it appears slightly wrapped or contorted. ’ (Kazuko Mende, Journal for Geometry and Graphics Volume 6 (2002), No. 2, 183– 190. )

SOURCE IMAGES • Top Image: pixaby. com • Middle Image: http: //www 2. ntj. jac. go. jp/unesco/kabuki/en/4/4_ 02_03. html • Bottom Image: http: //carljapanesetheatre. blogspot. ie/p/kabuki. h tml

HOW I ENVISION IT • The backdrop would have a forest painted on it, using the multiple vanishing points so it will look distorted to the audience. • There will be a platform before the backdrop for the witches. • Lighting changes and furniture-medieval style chairs (picture right)- will distinguish the action happening outside to action that happens inside the castle. • Limited use of shadow will offer a contrast to the deceit in the play. • (photo from: http: //previous. bildindex. de/bilder/MI 04675 c 14 a. jpg)

MACBETH: "BLOO D WILL HAVE BLOOD" (3. 4. 151) • In front of the backdrop will be a clear gauze for watered down fake blood to be splattered on. (Going back to the key imagery). This will be gradually added to over the course of the play.

DESIGN NO. 2: LOCATION AND ATMOSPHERE • The Kabuki set emphasised the symbolism in the play: the blood, the recurring child imagery • The second set will focus on the literal set of the castles and drawing out the atmosphere of the text • The atmosphere will also be shown by the use of the lights and sound

DESCRIPTION • The second story would be the ‘supernatural realm’, where the witches would stay and the ghosts would appear • I would take the revolving stage from the Hamilton set and use it while the witches are giving their prophecies. • Top Image : https: //www. pinterest. com/cotton 1540/macbeth/ • Bottom Image: http: //hamiltonlyrics. tumblr. com/post/131616224694/michi-heller-david-korins-set -for-hamilton

• Nooses wold hang from the railings of the set or from over head, if possible • The witches, murderers, and ghosts all appear in threes. Three was thought to have an ‘occult meaning’ (Emory B Lease, p. 56) • This symbol will be carved very largely into the set, If not visible it would be hung in on a banner • Noose: https: //pixabay. com/en/slinghangman-hanging-knot-1222466/ • Power of three symbol: https: //www. pinterest. com/pin/102 808803967834969/ THE FINER DETAILS

WHERE I GOT MY INFORMATION • Muir, Kenneth (1967) ‘Image and Symbol in Macbeth’ in Shakespearean Survey ed. Kenneth Muir. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press • Grace, William J (1942), ‘The Cosmic Sense in Shakespearean Tragedy’ The Sewanee Review, 50(4), pp. 433 -445 • ‘Macbeth 2010’ Itacashakespearecompany. org. Online. • ‘Ninagawa Macbeth’ Globalshakespeare. mit. edu. Online. • Dickson, Andrew (2010), ‘Is This a Gun I See Before Me? ’ Theguardian. com. Aug 12. Online

WHERE I GOT MY INFORMATION PT. 2 • ‘TR Warszawa/2008 Macbeth/Dir Grezgorz Jarzyna’ Culture. pl • ‘Grzegorz Jarzyna’ Culture. pl • Ryzik, Melena (2008), ‘Scottish Play Gets Polish Makeover’ New York Times. 11 Jun. Online. • Brokering, Jon M. (2007) ‘Ninagawa Yukio’s Intercultural “Hamlet”: Parsing Japanese Iconography’ Asian Theatre Journal. 24(2), pp. 370396 • Shakespeare, William(2001), ‘Macbeth’ The Complete Works of William Shakespeare. Scotland: Geddes and Gosset • Kazuko Mende (2002), ‘Concerning the Japanese Kabuki Stage’ Journal for Geometry and Graphics 6(2). Pp. 183 -190. • Emory B. Lease , "The Number Three, Mysterious, Mystic, Magic, " Classical Philology 14, no. 1 (Jan. , 1919): 56 -73.