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neadodsColor was very much a point of this MacBeth, as it was set in Rawanda, around 1960s-ish... although Lady MacB had a wig and costumes that were deliberate references to Michelle Obama. (o.O)
The director's notes explained: The English thought the Scots were barbarians and that word is used against Africans today by people who do not understand that what we are witnessing on that continent is the bloody birth of nations freeing themselves from their colonial pasts and forging their modern identities. We see that dynamic in the 11th-century Scotland of Shakespere's play ... The African setting is not intended to be an exact mirror image of Shakespeare's times any more than Shakespeare's play is an exact copy of 11th-century Scotland... it is intended to extract the essence of the truths in the play that sadly prove itself universal.
The preshow discussion was about timeless themes in MacBeth - childlessness and how MacDuff cannot revenge himself suitably - "He has no children!" Lineage. Equivocation. And there were notes on previous productions, esp. the one in the 1960s here, where the stage blood for every performance was 2 gallons of actual blood bought fresh from the butcher's every day.
The production was very loud - lots of gunfire, cannonfire, helicopters sounding like they're about to land on your head - and like I said, race was very much an issue. MacBeth and Duncan (and Duncan's children) were all white, while Lady MacBeth, Banquo, and MacDuff and half the rest of the cast were African-Canadian. (There were other minorities too - Lennox and the nurse were Indian.)
The nationalities get rather weird at the end, with major emphasis on the Scottish and English flags everywhere, and the looks on the faces of the soldiers when Duncan's son starts talking about how they're going to do things the English way. (This would have worked fine if Scotland was actually Scotland at the moment, but when it's Rawanda, it got a little "bwa?")
Mixed feelings from the audience - half of it rose and cheered and the other half clapped a bit politely. (And Colm looked terribly giddy and happy for someone whose head was in a bucket downstage.)
Post show discussion was completely with minority actors, so aside from the woman who was clearly out of it and had not read the program ("Why is everyone talking about Africa? Hands up everyone who thinks this was set in America somewhere") much of the discussion was about race. Sanjay Talwar (Lennox) talked about how he was Roman in Julius Cesar, Scottish here, and Indian in the upcoming Rice Boy. Kevin Hanchard (Angus) said that the cast had become exponentially more diverse in the last couple of years, that it was now better reflecting Canada in general. Roy Lewis (Old Man, and the only long-time Stratford veteran taking questions) said that "There are many more faces of color now, and it's opening up new possibilities." However, he felt that it was less a case of "we're setting this in Rawanda, so let's hire a bunch of actors to reflect that" than "We've got these actors, let's use them this way." Karen Glave (Weird Sister #1) said that she felt that the other plays were being cast colorblind - for instance, she has a couple of roles in Cyrano, such as Mother Superior.
Also discussed were:
- Was it a different preparation to set it in Africa rather than in period Scotland? ("Mostly it's important to learn what all the words mean." - Kevin)
- How you keep your various plays straight ("It's like taking history and English in high school, you don't forget which is which" - Roy)
- How to deal with the tensions between what a director wants and what an actor wants to do ("You audition one way, you win the role, and then the director tells you what to do, it all goes away. You've got to paint the picture the director wants to paint" - Kevin; "It's the tension, and knowing that both of you are in service of the play that makes the art" - Karen)
- How it is to work on a thrust stage. ("You have to remember the people on far right and left paid just as much for their tickets and include them." - Karen; "It's the picture the director wants to paint. He, or his assistants, will always be moving around to check how it looks from all angles." - Roy; "You have to deal with the fact that at some point your back is going to be to the audience and there are actual techniques for throwing your performance to some degree behind you." - Kevin.)
- Are people following the superstitions about MacBeth? ("We're saying it all the time, we have to." - Sanjay; "You've got to be sensitive to the people who are superstitious, because if you aren't, you're going to throw their performance off" - Kevin; "Not so much here, but at the other plays? YES!" - Karen)
And one teacher from Detroit said he'd brought a set of students up and they had really gotten into it - that doing MacBeth with guns and a racially diverse cast was something they could relate to and it really worked for them.
Today, Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, although without Bruce Dow, who is ill. Tomorrow - a very long drive.
The director's notes explained: The English thought the Scots were barbarians and that word is used against Africans today by people who do not understand that what we are witnessing on that continent is the bloody birth of nations freeing themselves from their colonial pasts and forging their modern identities. We see that dynamic in the 11th-century Scotland of Shakespere's play ... The African setting is not intended to be an exact mirror image of Shakespeare's times any more than Shakespeare's play is an exact copy of 11th-century Scotland... it is intended to extract the essence of the truths in the play that sadly prove itself universal.
The preshow discussion was about timeless themes in MacBeth - childlessness and how MacDuff cannot revenge himself suitably - "He has no children!" Lineage. Equivocation. And there were notes on previous productions, esp. the one in the 1960s here, where the stage blood for every performance was 2 gallons of actual blood bought fresh from the butcher's every day.
The production was very loud - lots of gunfire, cannonfire, helicopters sounding like they're about to land on your head - and like I said, race was very much an issue. MacBeth and Duncan (and Duncan's children) were all white, while Lady MacBeth, Banquo, and MacDuff and half the rest of the cast were African-Canadian. (There were other minorities too - Lennox and the nurse were Indian.)
The nationalities get rather weird at the end, with major emphasis on the Scottish and English flags everywhere, and the looks on the faces of the soldiers when Duncan's son starts talking about how they're going to do things the English way. (This would have worked fine if Scotland was actually Scotland at the moment, but when it's Rawanda, it got a little "bwa?")
Mixed feelings from the audience - half of it rose and cheered and the other half clapped a bit politely. (And Colm looked terribly giddy and happy for someone whose head was in a bucket downstage.)
Post show discussion was completely with minority actors, so aside from the woman who was clearly out of it and had not read the program ("Why is everyone talking about Africa? Hands up everyone who thinks this was set in America somewhere") much of the discussion was about race. Sanjay Talwar (Lennox) talked about how he was Roman in Julius Cesar, Scottish here, and Indian in the upcoming Rice Boy. Kevin Hanchard (Angus) said that the cast had become exponentially more diverse in the last couple of years, that it was now better reflecting Canada in general. Roy Lewis (Old Man, and the only long-time Stratford veteran taking questions) said that "There are many more faces of color now, and it's opening up new possibilities." However, he felt that it was less a case of "we're setting this in Rawanda, so let's hire a bunch of actors to reflect that" than "We've got these actors, let's use them this way." Karen Glave (Weird Sister #1) said that she felt that the other plays were being cast colorblind - for instance, she has a couple of roles in Cyrano, such as Mother Superior.
Also discussed were:
- Was it a different preparation to set it in Africa rather than in period Scotland? ("Mostly it's important to learn what all the words mean." - Kevin)
- How you keep your various plays straight ("It's like taking history and English in high school, you don't forget which is which" - Roy)
- How to deal with the tensions between what a director wants and what an actor wants to do ("You audition one way, you win the role, and then the director tells you what to do, it all goes away. You've got to paint the picture the director wants to paint" - Kevin; "It's the tension, and knowing that both of you are in service of the play that makes the art" - Karen)
- How it is to work on a thrust stage. ("You have to remember the people on far right and left paid just as much for their tickets and include them." - Karen; "It's the picture the director wants to paint. He, or his assistants, will always be moving around to check how it looks from all angles." - Roy; "You have to deal with the fact that at some point your back is going to be to the audience and there are actual techniques for throwing your performance to some degree behind you." - Kevin.)
- Are people following the superstitions about MacBeth? ("We're saying it all the time, we have to." - Sanjay; "You've got to be sensitive to the people who are superstitious, because if you aren't, you're going to throw their performance off" - Kevin; "Not so much here, but at the other plays? YES!" - Karen)
And one teacher from Detroit said he'd brought a set of students up and they had really gotten into it - that doing MacBeth with guns and a racially diverse cast was something they could relate to and it really worked for them.
Today, Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, although without Bruce Dow, who is ill. Tomorrow - a very long drive.
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