Last week, our school had a production on Macbeth. Although, it was a twist to the Shakespearean play we all knew. It was more modern and instead of the usual castle-like setting, it was set in a prison where Macbeth was an ordinary guard. The witch (who was played by one actress but took the role of the three witches) gave the prophecy that for Macbeth to become head of the prison, he must kill Duncan, the current head of the prison. The performance kept the original storyline but changed the aspect of which Macbeth would not kill to become king but to become the Deputy of the prison. This change was made to perhaps engage the young audience watching the play.
Lady Macbeth influenced Macbeth to kill Duncan and that if he were to be a man and the head that he should carry out the task and claim what was his. Lady Macbeth is an interesting character as she seems to want Macbeth to become head/king more than he does. She ‘called on the spirits’ to remove her of her gender and the milk in her breasts so she could carry out the death of Duncan. As an English student studying gothic literature, I can interpret that the roles of damsel in distress had switched in where Macbeth is the damsel (or man) in distress and that Lady Macbeth is his rescuer. With Elizabeth the first being queen at the time Shakespeare wrote this, women were gradually beginning to become equal to men, although they still had a long way to go.
A student, Arjeta Kastrati, who also witnessed the play explained that ‘it was interesting how they set it in a prison but also how they used both Shakespearean language as well as slang which in a way brought the worlds together’. The play altogether was a fresh and modernised version of one of Shakespeare’s famous plays. It was a way to keep his plays alive in the minds of the younger generation.
