Diego Velazquez

Macbeth Script Analysis

For me, I feel like the major focal point of the play and my design is the contrast between the “natural” world and the civilized world. The natural world is the world of the witches and their dominion. There should be a stark visual contrast of rich colors and vibrant lush forests and the clean cut and organized world of the nobility and royalty of the play. I feel like the witches are almost without form, if we were to live in the world of the play we would see the witches out of the corner of our eyes in the forests and be unsure if we saw anything at all. They are nature, and that doesn’t affect the fact that they are fairly malevolent beings who do as they wish. While the witches look like living forest, I want everyone else to look very fancy and strictly civilized. The nobles all should be contrasting from the natural and outside world beyond the castle walls. The strict difference shows how Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are different from both the world they are in and the world they are not, because though they begin as clean nobles, through time they get dirty inside and out due to their actions and demonstrate the overwhelming force of nature. The witches spread an energy onto Macbeth and his wife and this corrupts them to be part of “nature” and civilization but also being neither. I want the set to reflect this idea of slow corruption so that you can’t notice the changes but comparing the before and after of the set the change is very noticeable and stark. These ideas should permeate all facets of the design from the costumes to the set and lights and sounds.