Macbeth
Weston Studio, Bristol Old Vic Theatre, 2021
Hail, King that shalt be.
When confronted by the prophecy, Macbeth is terrified that the witches are merely seeing what might already be festering in his heart. As he and his wife embark upon their murderous path for the crown, we see what was once a golden couple kill their own humanity in the quest for power.
Role: Set and Costume Design
“A particularly memorable production designed by Choy-Ping Clarke-Ng... Blood will have blood in this five star production.”
★★★★★
- South Bristol Voice
“Set in period costume with some wonderful twists on the characters…” ★★★★
- Theatre Jam
“Designer Choy-Ping Clarke-Ng, whose creative presentation was evidently striking throughout [this] production is one of the most innovative adaptations of Macbeth… Synthesised with simplistic props and a stage that holds water in the midst of it, the production was truly marked by its originality.”
- Epigram
Team
Writer: William Shakespeare
Director: Ng Choon Ping
Cast:
Macbeth: Joe Usher
Lady Macbeth: Camilla Aiko
Banquo / Menteith / Fight Captain: Bill Caple
Macduff / Assistant Fight Captain: Josh Hurley
Malcolm: Max Guest
Rosse: Alexander Uzoka
Lennox / English Doctor: Eve Pereira
Duncan / Old Siward: Ruby Ward
Angus / Porter: Joe Edgar
1st Witch / Caithness: Evie Hargreaves
2nd Witch / Waiting Woman / Seyton: Joséphine-Fransilja Brookman
3rd Witch / Fleance / Macduff’s Son / Cream Faced Loon: Carlie Diamond
1st Murderer / Scottish Doctor / Donalbain / Old Man: Tom Atkinson
2nd Murderer / Captain / Young Siward / Lady Macduff: Phoebe Cook
Set and Costume Design: Choy-Ping Ní Chléirigh-Ng 吳彩萍
Lighting Design: Mary Bennett
Sound Design: Chris Davies
Assistant Director: Polly Wain
Producer: Ruby Gilmour
Combat Director: Jonathan Howell
Production Manager: Mark Munday
Assistant Production Manager: Joe Culpin
Stage Manager: Frances Ashton
Deputy Stage Manager: Joe Waddington
Assistant Stage Managers: Adrianne Broadgate and Sophie Robinson
Production Electrician: Spencer Cash-Archer
Lighting Operator: Tom Gould
Sound Operator: Lola O’Donoghue
Special Effects Operator: Dan Knipe
Prop Making Supervisor: Neamh Campbell
Prop Making Assistant: Ellie Condron
Construction Manager: Joe Culpin
Workshop Supervisor: Adam Mulligan
Costume Supervisor: Charlie Rowen
Photography: Craig Fuller
Process
Costume design:
It's not possible to sum up 80 costume looks, but here are a few little insights into the past four months. Starting with research, myself and the director Choon Ping were interested in the real Macbeth and the play's place in British history. Real Macbeth was one of the last properly Gaelic kings of Scotland before it was dominated by lowland Scots. We dove into looking at clothing from the 9th / 10th centuries initially. When we found that we needed more references (particularly references for women) we decided to expand our timeline and create something that had a more pan-medieval feel. Some liberties were taken!
We found a piece of clothing called the great kilt, which predates the skirt kilts we think of now. Coming from the 16th century, it was a large multifunctional piece of cloth that could have a hood, pockets and top if needs be. Quite a few of the thanes wear great kilts in the final design, custom made for the show. At one point, I missed doing research in person, so went to the National Archaeology Museum of Ireland to see some torcs / gorgets to get some jewellery inspiration. I'm always fascinated by the beauty of these genuinely ancient things. A huge amount of making and sourcing was done by the costume team to bring all the designs to life.
Set design:
The big challenge I think with Macbeth as a set designer is trying to get a sense of interior versus exterior space. With Choon Ping, we experimented with many configurations, some shown here in the video on the right.
The upstage area to me made sense as an exterior, beyond the proscenium with grass and a light wall to give a sense of bright outdoor light. This is versus a darker, more intimate interior downstage, with a simple rug to suggest this. We kept it minimal to accommodate the cast size and let costume really shine. I was thinking what kinds of textures would work and got quite into images of the moon (as you do). Desert, barren but also not too far away from stone floors in castles.
A gauze allows the exterior space to be closed off and offers a way of creating framed images. One of our big inspirations at the beginning was the film Prospero's Books, which is full of stunning, painterly images. Macbeth features quite a few of our own - such as during the Witches’ prophecy scene below. I think these are some of favourite moments.
"Macbeth shall never vanquish'd be until great Birnam Wood to high Dunsinane hill shall come against him."
Storyboarding:
This is one of the storyboards we used early on to show the vision for Banquo’s Ghost. We decided to try capture the horror of the moment through the real Banquo appearing - with a slit throat and pig’s head. I thought it would be great if we could use some stage magic to incorporate the head initially as a harmless dish on the table, to make the moment more surprising. It was the first thing that was workshopped in rehearsals - and many versions of it were tried out. It wasn’t until tech when it came together with all the elements. Neamh Campbell made the incredible pig’s head (sorry for all the gross reference images)! I don’t think I’ll forget the look of horror on people’s faces when the ghost emerged.