Lady Macbeth insights?

[~FloweryFriend~]

Posted: 9/17/05 at 5:05pm

As I said last week, I have been cast as Lady Macbeth in a production of Macbeth. Has anyone here played her before? Has anyone been in a production of Macbeth and have ideas about the character? I'd love to hear all your thoughts, as I'm still in the early stages of making choices for the role. Thanks :)

[ashley0139]

Posted: 9/17/05 at 10:57pm

Lady Macbeth is impressive. That's a very difficult role. Good luck with it! Make sure you tell us about it! I actually have no advice at the moment. Sorry.

Updated On: 9/18/05 at 10:57 PM

[Racetrack]

Posted: 9/18/05 at 4:28am

Congratulations! One of my favorite characters in Shakespeare. I have been in Macbeth and played witch 2. It was a lot of fun. The girl in our production was a really quiet Lady Macbeth and it was hard to hear her. But I don't have any advice right now.

[MTVMANN]

Posted: 9/19/05 at 5:34pm

I really have none, but today my teacher mentioned that when he read Macbeth to an elementary class all the boys wanted to be Lady Macbeth because she is a strong character, killed people and got all the action. In contrast to Macbeth who is a little weak.

I would just try to show her power. Your in an all-girl cast, right? So if any production is going to call for new takes on characters, yours is one.

[~FloweryFriend~]

Posted: 9/19/05 at 10:08pm

Thanks MTVMANN.

Lady Macbeth doesn't actually kill anyone.
Her presence shows that women can be just as power-hungry as men, but society forces them to claim power in different ways.
Lady Macbeth's true power comes from her ability to manipulate those around her.
She keeps her husband under control, she charms her guests into thinking that her husband is sane, and she sweet-talks Duncan to give him a false sense of safety and lure him to his death.


I am indeed in an all-female production, which adds new challenges to the role.
Lady Macbeth calls upon the spirits to make her more like a man.
But in this production, I am one of two females who is actually playing a female (the other being Lady Macduff. I'm not sure why, but our director changed the handmaid into another doctor. *shrugs*).
Because of that, I have to make it obvious that I am, indeed, a female.
This is especially important, as some of the females who are playing males are not particulary good at being males...
So I think I'm going to go for a kind of a sexy/evil edge to it.
When trying to mislead Duncan, I think I'll flirt with him mercilessly.
It will be appropriate to play up my femininity in that section, as it's meant to contrast with the growing corruption of the character.
Also, I think that I will allow myself to slip into more of a feminine identity in Act IV, when going crazy.

Of course, I haven't discussed any of this with my director yet...
But I want to have made some good strong choices before we get into rehearsals.
And if he doesn't like them, then I will be perfectly willing to change.
:)

[ashley0139]

Posted: 9/20/05 at 7:11am

Sounds like you already have an excellent grasp on the character. Let us know what your director thinks. This is one character I would love to play one day, but not for a while as it's just so much.

[MTVMANN]

Posted: 9/20/05 at 11:11am

Sounds Great! But don't forget about the witches being women :)

Anyways, I think that's a good take!

[~FloweryFriend~]

Posted: 9/20/05 at 5:36pm

Technically not, MTVMANN.
The witches are supposed to be kept androgynous.
In Act I, scene 3, Banquo states:
"... You should be women,
And yet your beards forbid me to interpret
That you are so."

Our Weird Sisters are going to have beards, as was suggested by the original text.
Also, our witches are going to be on stilts that should make them about 6.5-7 feet tall, so they will be quite physically imposing "other-worldly" beings.
So I wouldn't call them 'women'.