1) How does this version of Macbeth challenge the traditional versions of Macbeth?

Our version challenged the traditional version of  this play as we made it a comedic piece rather the actual story and performance is very sad and moving. We decided to base our performance off the show performed by Splendid Company Productions, who also made their performance based around comedic gestures to make the audience engage and laugh at what was happening instead of feeling sad and watching it happen. We successfully achieved to make the Macbeth piece a comedy through many ways, including having silly clown like songs which help to give comedic release within the play. This is done to give the audience a laugh as well as relieve the tense atmosphere that was created through the really serious and important scenes. Two examples of doing this was when there was the some based on Lady McDuff that Sam played, and Regicide even though it wasn’t included in the final performance. In the Lady Mc Duff scene they would talk about quite dark topics on hat was to come, but make it comedic through the high pitched voice and elegant movements to the performer. But straight after the song it would cut to her whole family being murdered. The other example of this was regicide. This was where a song was sung with actions about when a king dies and how and why that happens. Straight after this piece of comedic relief it cuts to a very serious and tense scene where Macbeth (Me), was conversing with Lady Macbeth (Mia), on how he had just killed someone, and that he was frightened, ashamed and unsure with what to do now. All of this allows the audience to feel many emotions within the one play which helps to keep them entwined and interested in the performance. This is because of the switching between the tones of the different scenes in rapid succession. This allows the audience to create meaning with what is being presented in front of them, which further allows them to truly engage in the scenes. In our actual performance we chose to use a round stage in a black room, instead of a typical performance stage. This is because we felt like it would immerse the audience into the atmosphere and help to make greater meaning and thought by surrounding the actors in every scene. By having a round stage the audience acted as the edge of the stage and so they could see everything that went on from all angles helping them to actually feel part of the show. We also used a black room because my having everything in a smaller area it meant that words would echo and so the audience would hear it louder which further would allow them to connect and make greater meaning from the play, instead of having a typical stage which wouldn’t achieve this. That is how our performance of Macbeth challenged the traditional version.

Question 2: What choices did we make in our scene to add dramatic meaning and tell the story?

In our scene we did and used many techniques to tell the story and make the scene more dramatic and full of greater meaning. In our scene we made it realism to bring greater effect and meaning in the scene. We did this because the audience could see the physical features in our face to determine how real the feelings are about the situation. This allows the audience to make greater meaning in the scene as they feel like they are interacting in the performance. In our scene we were trying to convey how murdering somebody would take a great toll on somebody’s lifestyle and how they act. We achieved this by taking slow steps, shaking my hand, facial features and more. I took slow steps to portray nervousness to the audience, I shook my hand and diverted my gaze to show that I did something terrible and that my body still cant stop my hand from shaking, and my face showed fear and regret which showed the audience how afraid I was of what I had done. In our scene we also had a long red scarf which we used as an abstract representation of blood and the terrible deed that had been done. In our scene we had 3 characters being the buffoon, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, all of which served a certain purpose to provide meaning to the audience. The buffoons was to provide insight into what was happening in our scene, Macbeth was shown to be the vulnerable one as he had just murdered somebody and Lady Macbeth was his anchor as she was always enforcing the importance to stick to the plan and follow through. By identifying these traits our group was able to allow the audience to create greater meaning towards the story. In our scene we were able to add dramatic meaning and development to the story through working with the truth, actions and the language. In our scene Macbeth had just murdered somebody and so I had to focus on what he would be feeling and so I tried to act as one with the character to create a truthfulness sort of atmosphere in our scene. As well as this we incorporated many actions within our piece to further allows the audience to create greater meaning. Some examples of this is how my hand was constantly shaking throughout the entire performance signifying how much this had affected me, as well as how Mia ripped the cloth (which was used as an artistic representation of blood) from my hands and entwined it in her fingers showing how easy it was and how she was unfazed by the situation. Also in our scene we had to get familiar with the Shakespearian language, which included us saying all of the words correctly and understanding what they actaully meant. We had to say the words correctly as it would help the scene flow as the pronunciation intended was correct, therefore pleasing the audiences ears. We also had to know what the words meant so we could attach suitable actions to them to provide further meaning for the audience. This was effective as if we didn’t know what the words meant then we would just be reading a script but when you know the definition it allows you to connect and put emotion into your piece further allowing the audience to create greater meaning of our scene. That is how our performance of Macbeth allowed the audience to make great meaning of our scene.