This morning we were dazzled by Professor Clare Kinney who, completely in her element, wowed us with a lecture about the history and present conditions of the Globe Theater and Shakespearean Performance. We then jumped into our discussion of Macbeth which we'd read for the class. I was fascinated by the group's discussion which established the famed play in the context of one of its smaller characters - the Porter. From his excellent, alcohol induced soliloquy, we see how the porter sees himself (through glazed but ultimately correct eyes) as the keeper of the gates to hell. Macbeth's castle at Dunsimane, then, is that Hell.
In our discussion, we also debated the amount of agency that Macbeth really had over the course of the play. Was he the slave of fate - did his knowledge of the prophecy compel him to carry it out - or was he in control of his action and could he pull out before his hands were too bloodied?
After our class, we ate and then took the tube to Shakespeare's Globe Theater, a recreation finished in 1996. See for yourself how excellent a reproduction it is:
The Stage
We were lovely aristocrats who had seats in the gallery but the people on the ground floor, the "groundlings", must stand throughout the performance. The sheet with holes in it for their heads is not normally featured but this production of Macbeth really focused on the porter's view that Dunsimane Castle is hell. Thus, the black sheet is the boundary of hell and the groundlings are the inhabitants. Throughout the performance, the groundlings were both harassed by horrifying looking members of the cast who sped through their masses. Also, actors would pop out of hell covered in blood and the deceased members of the cast would often be thrown through the groundlings pits. 
Usually, the stage has a backdrop with balconies and beautiful artwork but this is, of course, hell and instead the few openings are plastered with blood. The stage had a multitude of trapdoors that were used by "ghosts" and also for body disposal.
As we were walking to the globe, we also passed the invisible man. 
I won't have what he's having.
After the show, Paul and I walked back to the tube station, got lost, and found another much bigger and more crowded tube station but we made it back to Regent's in time for dinner. After dinner and a nap (siesta!), I woke up and caught the last half of the South Africa-Uruguay game and, unfortunately, saw the poor South Africans fall victim to an abhorrent call by the referee which led to a penalty kick and gave their keeper a red card.
After drying my eyes, I went back to my room to find my roommate manscaping his foot regions and was inspired to blog.
Check back soon!
-Simon
No comments:
Post a Comment