Reaction to Screen: Macbeth

Magayanes, Jireh Christi Jae U.

English 11

Reaction to Screen: Macbeth

The Tragedy of Macbeth, more commonly called Macbeth, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare depicting a regicide and its aftermath. In celebration of its centennial, the Department of English and Comparative Literature of the College of Arts and Letters of the University of the Philippines-Diliman presented the World Theatre Project’s Screen: Macbeth.

Screen: Macbeth is a recreation of the 17th century tragedy for a 21st century audience using hyper visual staging, with actors coming and going from all directions and props being thrown and falling from above. Instead of the typical proscenium-type theater, the play was staged in a “black box” theater with runway-like platforms intersecting with each other, surrounded by white fabric from ceiling to floor which served as the backdrop. The unusually small and intimate stage enabled the audience to really absorb and be engaged in the story and the performance of the actors- their facial expressions, gestures, and other aspects that makes a performance effective and convincing. Even if the dialogue remained purely in the Shakespearean manner, making it hard to understand, the proximity of the audience to the actors was enough for them to feel the emotions and the passion that the actors convey. The play also mixed theater with the art of film by using several video clips to indicate the setting of some scenes, giving attention to the fact that despite Macbeth being a 17th century play, modern elements can be incorporated into it to make it still relevant in this present time. Also, this mixture of modern and medieval concepts enables people to see that the “old” and “new” can both be appreciated and recognized without either one being compromised. Another noteworthy aspect of the play is its cast. There were very few actors since the space is limited, but they made it work by using other effects, especially sound effects.

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