MACBETH BLOG: WEEK 3.
Week 3 of the process you will find out about the final week of rehearsals, and hear from Marketing Assistant, Martha and Learning Coordinator, Alex.
WEEK 1 BLOG | week 2 blog | Week 3 blog | week 4 blog | WEEK 5 Blog | WEEK 6 BLOG
ENTRY 3: FINAL REHEARSAL WEEK
Key term: blocking – the mapping out of where each actor enters, exits, and stands on the stage, and when and where they move in each scene. Blocking is critical in making sure that the space is used well, and that everyone can see and hear what is happening.
We’re now heading into our last rehearsal week. It’s a six day week to give us maximum time before we head into the theatre and tech week.
We have started back at the beginning of the play and will be working through again, now with the foundations laid, attempting to uncover further detail in the story. The blocking of the play and choreography of certain moments will become more structured now as we look to define these sections of the story, taking that into full runs of the acts and the entire production.
At this point, I really like to have the dialogue at my fingertips so that I can continue to expand my focus to what’s happening around me. It’s vital to allow the detailed work that the company are bringing to affect your interaction with them, the audience, and the story. It’s so much easier to engage in that once the lines are embedded in you, once they are part of you. The hardest part then is to forget you know them. To discover them as though it is for the first time. But that’s where being receptive to the company’s work and the energy of the audience on that day can assist you.
Key term: blocking – the mapping out of where each actor enters, exits, and stands on the stage, and when and where they move in each scene. Blocking is critical in making sure that the space is used well, and that everyone can see and hear what is happening.
Samuel Oatley – Banquo
ACTORS IN THE REHEARSAL ROOM BLOCKING OUT THE SCENE
The cast of Macbeth 2020 in the rehearsal room blocking out a scene.
HEAR FROM ALEX OUR LEARNING COORDINATOR
OUR NEW E-TICKETS
This is the first year we are using our new e-tickets. Not only does this make it simpler for visitors to find their seats, but is also much more eco-friendly not having to print out all of the individual tickets!
If you had asked 18 year old Alex where he would be at 25, he never would have guessed working in the Education department at Shakespeare’s Globe, mainly because he didn’t know such jobs existed!
I’m Alex and have been a Learning Coordinator at Shakespeare’s Globe for 5 months now. I coordinate the school’s side of Playing Shakespeare, and am the main point of contact for teachers. Between my previous colleague and myself, we have booked over 20,000 students and teachers into this production. On top of this, I am also responsible for coordinating the accompanying workshops for teachers. Recently, I have been emailing out our new e-tickets (picture attached!) – this is something that we are trialling for this year that I have been heavily involved in the designing of.
Playing Shakespeare is such a fantastic thing to be involved with. There really is something about the way departments across the whole of Shakespeare’s Globe pull together to help out, and I love being so integral to its operation.
If you had asked 18 year old Alex where he would be at 25, he never would have guessed working in the Education department at Shakespeare’s Globe, mainly because he didn’t know such jobs existed! Education is something I very much fell into, but I absolutely love it. I love being part of helping break down preconceptions students have about Shakespeare and understanding that the plays are more than just words on a page, but a real spectacle.
My advice to students thinking about careers is that there is nothing wrong with having a vague idea of where you want to be and just going with the flow. There are so many jobs out there that you might be unaware of!
ENTRY 2: A GLOBE WORKOUT
What does a movement director do?
This week we also increased our fitness work with Shelley, our movement director. Performing at the Globe, in an intense schedule, demands a lot from you physically and vocally. That is why all the preparation work is so important.
Over the weeks, Shelley has been increasing the intensity of our workouts in the morning but our last session on Friday took the prize. We all messaged each other on Saturday morning to share the pain.
Samuel Oatley – Banquo
CAREER ADVICE ON BECOMING A MOVEMENT DIRECTOR
Watch the Globe’s Head of Movement, Glynn Macdonald, discuss what it means to be a movement director, and provide career advice on becoming a movement director.
MARTHA ON MARKETING
SNOW-Y GLOBE: MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING 2018 PRODUCTION
Here is a photo from our 2018 Playing Shakespeare with Deutsche Bank production of Much Ado About Nothing. You can see some the posters and how the marketing is also on the flags and walls by the Groundling Gates. During Playing Shakespeare the vision of the production visually takes over the space and can be seen by visitors and passers-by. Also, spare a thought for those coming to watch the show in the snow! Fingers crossed that won’t happen when you come to visit this year!
We started by asking a lot of questions: How did the director, Cressida, envisage the play to take shape? What themes does she see as important? What does the design of the play look like? How are the characters going to be presented?
When you visit Shakespeare’s Globe to watch Macbeth this year you’ll be given a programme with information for the show. As you walk through the Groundling Gates with your school you’ll see artwork for Macbeth plastered on to the bricks and posters stretched either side of the entrance. Peer in to the Globe and you’ll spot photographs of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth in the windows and flags in the wind on Bankside.
As Marketing Assistant at Shakespeare’s Globe it’s been my job to coordinate the visual identity and programme for Playing Shakespeare with Deutsche Bank 2020.
When a play is created, it has its own ecosystem. Directors, designers, voice coaches, fight directors and actors feed in to build the play and bring it to life. It is the role of the Marketing team to shine a microscope on this ecosystem and share its story with wider audiences in an accessible way.
I’ve been working on Macbeth since September, following the development of the play and working as part of a team to create Marketing materials.
We started by asking a lot of questions: How did the director, Cressida, envisage the play to take shape? What themes does she see as important? What does the design of the play look like? How are the characters going to be presented?
From this we were able to gain an insight in to the vision for the play. With the help of a design agency we built mood boards and 34 design concepts, which over time we narrowed down to one key image. We felt that the image of Macbeth, with the flag etched over his face was powerful and emphasised a key theme of nationalism, alongside Macbeth’s character as strong but fearful.
We coordinated a photo shoot with Macbeth and Lady Macbeth before Christmas to capture the images that we needed. We commissioned essays from our Education department to go in the programme and help you to unpick key themes and characters in the play. We created a useful summary of the Macbeth plot and a double page of quotes illustrated with pictures to help you to remember them. We also collected biographies from all of the cast and creatives, written in a fun and punchy tone of voice and interviewed Cressida, the director of Macbeth.
The work doesn’t stop here! Throughout the performance run the Marketing team will be busy behind the scenes to document and share every stage of the project. Keep an eye on our website and social media for updates including the fantastic videos that we made with very talented students from schools nearby to accompany the play.
Enjoy the show!
ENTRY 1: STAGE COMBAT
But what exactly does a fight director do?
A pivotal week. We finished working through the play, continued our work on stage and delved further into the physicality of performing in the Globe space. Everyone certainly felt like they’d earned the weekend.
A lot of Shakespeare’s plays give you the opportunity to work with stage combat. Macbeth is certainly one of those. We have some major combat moments in the play, which are pivotal to the story telling, so a lot of work goes into choreographing those. With all stage combat, repetition and precision are key, so from here on, we will be going through these fight scenes every day. Not only does this keep the fight safe and locked into your brain and body but gives it the most authentic feel.
It’s always surprising to me how much fight scenes can reveal about your character. The way they fight, the way they react to it – that can really inform you and feed into your work on the rest of the play.
All the stage combat that Sam mentions above will be mapped out and overseen by a ‘fight director’. But what exactly does a fight director do?
“The fight director is in charge of choreographing these sequences safely to look as gruesome as possible, whilst also telling the story of the violence. This might be characters’ motivation, how good each character is at fighting, and whether they win easily or if it’s a struggle. Fights don’t look good without understanding what’s happening for the person fighting mentally as well as physically, and so [the fight director] works with the actors on both things. Each fight has a story, and each move has an intention behind it, just like when you are working with text. (PLEASE remember that even very experienced actors would never try and improvise a fight without following the proper techniques and the help of a fight director!)” Natasha Rickman
Samuel Oatley – Banquo
Stage combat professionals performing a demonstration in the Underglobe space. If you come on a guided tour of the Globe you might get a chance to see one these demonstrations while you wait for your tour to start.
