MACBETH

An Undoing

Brutalism Architecture

Egyptian catacombs!

(Sanyu might be onto something!)

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The “barbette and fillet” is the set of stiff linen strips that encompass the head (fillet) and face (barbette). Women of the upper classes would add pearls or other embellishments to the crespine (the netted piece) to denote status.This reconstruction was made with a crocheted and gilded cotton thread crespine, and bias-cut, stiffened linen barbette and fillet.

Scold’s Bridle

(Is this what you were talking about Saska?)

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REFERENCES TO OTHER TEXTS

Waiting for Godot - Samuel Beckett

Macbeth learns the constraints of his actions, while Vladimir and Estragon (Waiting for Godot) are plagued by a lack of action, a type of paralysis that is caused by their waiting, their belief in some external salvation or force that will absolve them from having to take action.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream - Shakespeare

The soldier’s speech at the end of the play was an epilogue the character Puck delivers at the end of A Midsummer Night’s Dream

“If we shadows have offended,

Think but this, and all is mended,

That you have but slumbered here

While these visions did appear.

And this weak and idle theme,

No more yielding but a dream..”

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THEATRE STYLES AND CONVENTIONS

By exposing the mechanics of theatre and the performative aspects of life, metatheatre invites the audience to critically examine the relationship between art and reality, as well as the role of theatre in society.

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• Breaking of the fourth wall
• Direct address
• Deliberate reference to the play being performed
• Use of Theatre Terminology ("where's the stage manager?")
• Self-referential through:characters discussing their role in play and commenting on playwrights’ choices
• Disruption of Narrative Structure, eg: blurring the lines between the characters’ “real” world within the play and the “play” they perform within that world
• Play Within a Play

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METATHEATRE

EXPRESSIONISM

Expressionistic work is not interested in creating a literal representation of life, but instead focuses on reflecting the emotional state or a visceral response.

• Dreamlike/nightmarish atmosphere.
• Bizarre shapes, sensational colour.
• Stark simplified images reflect theme.

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THEATRE STYLES AND CONVENTIONS

Realism is a style of theatre that attempts to create 'a slice of life' on stage.

Realism aims to be authentic to the human experience.

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• Believable characters
• Realistic movement
• Psychologically driven drama
• Costumes authentic to reflect status, context, characteristics, etc
• Doesn’t break 4^th wall/representational acting
• Dialogue is not heightened for effect, but that of everyday speech
• Vernacular (the language or dialect spoken by the ordinary people in a particular country or region)
• Use of Acting Skills (voice, gesture, facial expressions and movement) are nuanced and psychologically motivated, reflecting internal characteristics

REALISM

Feminist theatre had two main objectives: to raise consciousness of the social and political issues which

concerned women and to improve the conditions of women working in the theatre.

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• Women are the subject, not the object
• Disrupts traditional notions of gender
• Role-reversal
• Telling stories of often ignored but influential historical figures
• Telling the unjust stories of women who have been oppressed
• Critiquing systems of power that keep women oppressed
• Alternative narrative structures: It tends to reject linear narrative, often opting for open-ended, circular, or episodic plots.

FEMINIST THEATRE

THEATRE STYLES AND CONVENTIONS

Jacobean Theatre refers to the drama that was written and performed during the reign of Elizabeth’s successor, James I (1603-1625)

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• Dramas centred on moral corruption and violent stories of revenge
• Representations of the society in which they lived, dramatised in exciting titillating stories, full of sex and violence.
• Extreme violence was being portrayed on the stage.

Elizabethan Theatre is a style of performance plays which blossomed during the reign of Elizabeth I of England (1558-1603).

• Elaborate costumes: rich and colourful to reflect status
• Presentational acting
• Direct address (during asides, prologue, soliloquy, epilogue)
• Double casting (actors playing multiple roles).
• Use of hand props/minimal use of props
• Movements stylised and dramatic
• Gestures were appropriate but stylised and highly selective for tragedy
• Trap door used to drop characters into Hell or raise characters up from beneath.
• Clear articulation of the voice; slightly elevated tone

JACOBEAN THEATRE

ELIZABETHAN THEATRE

Additional Theatre Styles to consider…

CONTEMPORARY GOTHIC

Emphasis on the power of the unknown and unseen, nature/landscape against which humans are ultimately powerless.

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• Settings are often isolated, abandoned or confined.
• Nature is powerful and symbolic
• Use of sound effects to create atmosphere.
• Silence used to create tension
• Supernatural or other worldly element
• Lighting used to create stark shadows
• Symbolic use of props
• Recurring motifs

THEATRE OF THE ABSURD

Based on the existential philosophy that life is inherently without meaning and we must create our own meaning.

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• Non-linear plot developments, often circular, ending where they began
• Use of monotone
• Frequent use of silence
• Ritualistic and repetitive movements
• Presentational acting

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This famous scene from an absurdist play was recreated.

Why do you think this was done?

INTENDED MEANING

The raven himself is hoarse

That croaks the fatal entrance of Duncan (Lady Macbeth)

Ravens in Macbeth symbolise ill omen and death. However, other interpretations see ravens as symbolising ancient wisdom, intelligence and transformation.

Some common symbolic meanings associated with snow include purity, isolation, stillness, individuality, transformation, rebirth, and death.

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THE RAVEN

THE SNOW