Macbeth is a play by William
Shakespeare and tells the story of a man who receives a prophecy from a set of
witches that he would one day become the king of Scotland. He is then pressured
by his wife to kill King Duncan in order to cease the throne.
I decide to attend the Saturday
showing at 2pm of UCSB’s production. I had high hopes for the Naked Shakes and
their version of Macbeth and was extremely disappointed. When I first heard
that the cast would not be using props I was very interested in seeing what
elements they would bring to the stage to compensate for the lack of aesthetic
appeal. The only part of the play I enjoyed was the opening scene with almost
the entire cast playing the part of the witches after that the play just went
down hill. Aside from the opening scene of the play there were a few aspects I enjoyed
such as how they composed King Duncan’s throne entirely out of people. The
constant drumming in the background also set a humdrum and dark mood which was
perfect for the essence of the play.
I was very
confused by the casting and failed to understand why Macbeth and the King were
so old mainly because I thought it would be a strictly student cast play. I
found it ironic that the king was black because in the play he died first. As
the saying goes in any movie the black guy always dies first.
I can definitely understand how you got confused by the parts the actors were trying to play. I was also a bit let down by the fact that they didn't use props. I know that Shakespeare didn't use a whole lot of props back in the 1600's, but I was still looking forward to being able to tell the characters apart somehow. I did love the mood they set, though, and the lack of props made the red gloves and little things like that all the more intriguing. Good post, Faith!
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