Emily MacDonald Desirae Hepp Susan Lau Joseph Bodwin Mini Chu Dramaturgical Note for Fate in Motion Macbeth Act IV We have designed Macbeth Act IV to visually and physically express the tangled web Macbeth creates through his actions. We will have two material elements, that of fabric and rope, which will explore two types of motions: spiraling and weaving. Our concept has basis in several theoretical sources, namely audience engagement with use of materiality and theater as a simulacra. We start with Jones theory to create Act IV with a performance that has the power to present abstraction and allusion, superceding illusion in storytelling. In this way our interactive set serves as a metaphor, heightening the audience experience and their proximity to the action. The audience is placed around the perimeter of the space, as in 'theater in the round'. Some of the historical references in theater that inspired our design are Scheckners environmental theater. Our material elements include a large fabric piece which hangs from the ceiling. It can be lowered to the ground, weighed down, and can cover the actors. A second puppeted element, are ropes, which are connected to the walls with a pulley and carabineer system, so the actors can keep the tension on the rope as they move and weave paths, tie into knots, and create a cat s cradle matrix. This concept enables the actors to literally create the set through their actions, using the materials performitvity to explore the storytelling of Macbeth. We first use our concept in Act One, Scene Three, where Macbeth is first hailed by the witches and his fate is prophesized. Thus, the large stretch fabric begins on the ground with the witches underneath it, as if growing out of the depths of the earth. The witches bodies will transform the fabric set as they impact Macbeth's fate. The edges of this fabric are anchored down to create tension that allows the silhouette of the witches to shape-shift like a boiling cauldron. At the start of Act IV, the witches predictions from earlier have come full circle, which begins the spinning movement of the projected image. Macbeth, obsessed with his guilt and fearful of his fate, visits the witches as they cast spells around an abstract cauldron, made out of stretch fabric which is connected to the edges of the ceiling. The fabric will be weighted down with items the witches throw into it. The cauldron will rise and fall as it is lowered from each side through a pulley system. The fabric will be a funnel-like shape. The incorporation of new media as a projection of a spinning vortex onto the cauldron is used to visually transform the fabric into a conceptual manifestation: Macbeth s cosmic decent to his death at the end of the play. The gravity that a wormhole creates is symbolic of his guilt for his murderous acts. The plot shifts in scene two and our set changes to illustrate the murders of Macduff s family. At this point, the funnel is raised and ropes that have been hanging on the side walls will be pulled out of their pulley points to become the next incarnation of the set. The ropes will be connected to actors d- ring suits that represent Macduff s family and servants. The actors will run across stage from opposite sides, run off stage out of sight, and then release from the ropes simultaneously, so the slackening and retracting of the ropes shows they have been murdered. In scene three, the ropes will be connected to Macduff and Malcom and pulled across the stage as the actors move, which expresses their plans to build up troops and launch an attack as
revenge against Macbeth. At this point the audience is physically engaged in the action by holding points of the rope as it is pulled. Metaphorically, Macbeth is being tied up in his own web, being dammed by his own actions. The goal is to create a matrix environment of knotted ropes, like a cat s cradle. The audience is the physical manifestation of the revenge plot. This type of audience engagement refers to Gropius' ideas that space is experienced with the whole body, not just vision. The initial cauldron fabric will be reintroduced in Act V, when Lady Macbeth is sleepwalking, having a nightmare about the murders she and her husband executed. For this scene s opening, Lady Macbeth will walk across the stage inside of the fabric piece, trying to wash her hands of the blood with the spinning cauldron projected onto her. Now Lady Macbeth is within the whirlpool which illustrates that her fate is intertwined with Macbeth s. She will also be tethered to the wall with one of the ropes wrapped around her waist. This tether will symbolize the baggage that follows her and that she will never be free from her past. Lady Macbeth dies in this act, and Macbeth soon after her. To enact this later in Act V, Macbeth will be tied to the same rope as Lady Macbeth, but they will be on separate sides of the room. When Lady Macbeth dies she will fall towards the ground and off stage (with her attached rope), this action will pull Macbeth's rope, although slowly. Soon they will both have disappeared. The overriding message is that Lady Macbeth and Macbeth are linked in descent by their unified actions and that Macbeth s death must follow hers because their fates are made of the same material. In terms materials, we follow Esherick s example, so we have decided to use everyday materials that the audience might see in their own lives. Our concept, although structured with material elements, and an end goal, can be a spontaneous environment, allowing changes and decisions to be made with the set during the performance, countering Havel's comment that current theatre is now so refined it alienates. Additionally, Esherick talks about the importance of people connecting to other people. And this we agree is an important part of telling the Macbeth story, thus our concept plans for interaction between the professional actors and the 'spontaneous actors'/ or audience members. They will be in the same space, not separated from each other, and can communicate with each other in movement and voice. There should be little or no difference between the two, both could do the same actions, if directed, especially if we explore an instruction pamphlet prior to the show. Boal states that theater is the most perfect artistic form of coersion. In a way, we are coercing the audience into participating in the fate of Macbeth and in so doing activating them to understand the motives of the characters, which we hope the best way to understand the story, is to find yourself inside it. We wish to create more of an interactive performance, such as Marina Abramovic s audience participation concept, reducing the distancing effect. The audience is not just to be manipulated by the one-sided spectacle, but to be included in the design of the spectacle to make it interactive and give them choices. Ranciere sees viewing the spectacle as an action, as opposed to a passive activity. With our version of Macbeth, the viewer can be both a spectator and active interpreter. This performance of Macbeth, is designed to get the audience into the story so that they can understand the motives of the characters, even if subliminally. Baudrillard has an excellent argument for the power of theater and art in general, in his statement that 'simulation is infinitely more dangerous, proving something real by being its opposite or its simulacrum. In this way our interactive set, can be an important method of communication. If this story of love, murder and revenge can engage the audience on multiple sensory levels, then this form of interactive theater has succeeded.
Wall (2) Wall (1) Wall (3) Plan Wall (1) Wall (2) Wall (3)
Rigging: Pulley Double Gated Carabiner D - Carabiner Descended Macbethʼs Straight Jacket Nylon Rope Rope Eye Sleeve Pulley & D-Carabiner Lift Ascender & D-Carabiner Ascender & D-Carabiner
+ Macbethʼs straight jacket with D rings built in, will serve as a device for the witches to attach D-Carabinerʼs at multiple locations and heights. D-Carabinerʼs will be attached to ropes held in tension by supporting actors at each corner of the room. (I sleeves) at the end of each rope will allow for smoother rotation of rope as actor moves around. D - Carabiner Rope Eye Sleeve Macbethʼs Straight Jacket Existing Eye Screw + + The pulleys and D-Carabiners will be attached to the existing (eye screws) located in the walls. Supporting actors will be stationed at each location to maintain tension in the rope as other actors create the cats cradle and attach the ends of the rope to Macbethʼs straight jacket. The pulleys will create a smooth movement of the rope through each anchor location. Macbeth Pulley & D-Carabiner
Double gated carabiners can be used as a way to combine two separate ropes as an aid in creating the cats cradle and other effects using the ropes. + + Rope (I sleeves) and D-Carabiners could be used to connect the ends of two separate ropes or two individuals. A lift ascender in combination with either a D-Cantabiner or double gated carabiner could be used to combine multiple ropes and lock them in position. Descended and D-Carabiner can be used as a way to combine multiple ropes with the descended acting as a position adjustor.