A sneak behind the scenes of our critically acclaimed production of Macbeth - from cast member Beryl Nairn:

“I am in props stepped in so far…

Picture the scene. A pile of gas masks, one prosthetic chopped-off finger, great coats, rifles, swords, tin hats by the score, hairpins, trestle tables, glasses, plates of fruit and gruesome-looking taxidermic animals.

Suddenly, a smoke machine starts up, during which the sub-sonic ‘boom’ of a battlefield bomb rattles your rib cage. All hell breaks loose when a whistle is blown, as a clatter of boots and a smear of sweaty faces, rush off to meet their fate.   Difficult to believe it’s not actually Armageddon, but backstage in the wings at 41 Monkgate Theatre. It’s 28th September, 7.30pm, on the opening night of Mooted Theatre Company’s production of Macbeth.  

As a twenty strong, level-headed, ensemble company, we’ve been pretty dismissive of the usual superstition surrounding The Scottish Play, even shrugging off any coincidences when a couple of the company got pretty sick during recent rehearsals, (including Lady Macbeth and one of the Witches). But I digress.  

So, it was the opening night of the show and the air around the wings, and in the dressing rooms,  was gathering an energy, which, like Macbeth’s dagger, soon became ‘palpable’. Not only was it stifling hot, but tension was ramping up, since this production’s technical detail demands a limpet-like dependency between cast, crew and creatives. There is much work to do as a team. I’ve no doubt that sharing shutter-wrangling duties, table assemblage, tent dismantling, sword fighting and speedy costume changes; as well as performing intense and tightly choreographed scenes together, will create life-long memories and friendships.  

I’ve been in the Monkgate space before. Twice as an actor, twice as a director and many times as a member of the audience. Waiting to go on stage last night, I was struck again by the power and magic of theatre; the craft by which a black, empty, box can be transformed into an alternative world. I’ve seen the Monkgate studio transfigured into a Lawn Tennis Court, The Irish Potato Famine, a Stately Home and, on the atmospheric set of this current production, into a brutalised land, yoked under the tyrant, Macbeth.   I love Shakespeare. I’ve taught Shakespeare.

I studied Macbeth for my own Literature O Level. It gave me a nightmare I’ll never forget, where my Dad cut me into pieces with a Stanley Knife and my Mum stuck me back together with sellotape. We laughed about it over breakfast. But I’m having nightmares again. Macbeth gives you nightmares. 

Mark France’s bloody, compelling and topical production of Macbeth will give you nightmares. I’m loving it. So will you. Fact.”

Beryl Nairn - September 2011

Just a small selection of that fantastic response we’ve had from our production of Macbeth.

“Mark France’s vaulting ambition as a director results in the most impressive use to date of the black box stage at 41 Monkgate…Mooted’s Macbeth is bold, brutal, modern and deeply resonant” - York Press

“A powerful, realistic, and very human ensemble play, with some outstanding
performances from individuals, and convincing stage fight scenes, making you want to see this production again.” - Pocklington Post

“The most thrilling night I’ve ever had at the theatre!” - Audience member

“Fantastic show - performances, set and sound were all superb.” - York Music Forum

“Absolutely loved it! Awesome - great set and costumes - Macbeth was brilliant.” - Final Curtain Drama (group aged 11-14)

Tickets are selling fast so make sure you pre-book yours NOW at http://mootedtheatre.ticketleap.com/macbeth/

Macbeth is up and running!

After months of rehearsal, design, composition, construction, promotion, blood, sweat and tears - Mooted’s production of Macbeth is now open!

Thanks to all who came to see our opening night  - and for those of you without tickets yet - buy them securely online at http://mootedtheatre.ticketleap.com/macbeth/

Screams as music, explosions as rhythm, field recordings, live electronics and recording the supernatural - we caught up with Composer Kingsley Ash to talk about his soundtrack to Macbeth.

1. What was your initial reaction the original brief and how has that effected any research and instrumentation choices?

The dark themes and settings of the play are really exciting to work with - there is war, the supernatural, madness and nightmares, which gives me a lot of scope when it comes to creating the sound design and composing the music. The instrumentation was always going to be based on electronic sounds, not only as that the main focus of the music I make, but also in this context it allows me to integrate the sound design into the music… explosions can be transformed into rhythmic patterns, screams become parts of the music. The music also contains a range of field recordings that I’ve made, from bird sounds in the woods of North Yorkshire to the strange sound of me using a violin bow on the edge of a wineglass as it is filled up with water - it’s great to work and experiment with these original textures to turn them into the soundscapes of the play. There are also conventional instruments in there, but often transformed beyond recognition or warped with digital effects.

2. I understand that you actually trigger various elements of the music live so as to be flexible with the action onstage? Could you briefly explain your approach to this for us?

It’s almost like the live pianists who used to accompiany silent films - there was a significant element of improvisation and flexibility in their performances to match the action on screen, and there’s no reason why electronic music can’t be done in this kind of way. The computer tools that we have available now for live performance of electronic music allow me to trigger sounds, adjust effects and manipulate sounds as they are playing. Triggering sounds live lets me sync the effects to the action precisely and manipulating the tracks during the play allows me to adjust the pace and feel of the music to match the action. It’s a bit more risky and requires more practice than pressing play on a CD player, but should result in a more exciting and dynamic soundtrack.

3. What is your favourite part of the soundtrack so far and why?

I particularly like the theme for the coronation of Macbeth - it’s feeling of threatening power I think works really well. I’ve also found working on the witches sounds interesting…. a few times working late at night I’ve freaked myself out with the strange growls and screams that are in there!

4. What else you’re doing at the moment?

As I write this I’m in a hotel room in Providence, USA for a performance tomorrow night at the Pixelarations Festival. Coming up later in the year I’ve got performances in Lithuania and as part of the BBC Radio 3 Free Thinking Festival in Newcastle and then in the new year I’m starting a project that’s going to look at turning environmental data into sound and music. I’m currently lecturing in electronic music at Leeds Metropolitan University, so that also keeps me pretty busy.

www.kingsleyash.com

DAVID Zezulka is playing Macbeth for the first time in Mooted Theatre Co’s production in York, but he knows Shakespeare’s Scottish play only too well.

“Twice I’ve been Banquo and once Ross, as well as numerous murderers and doctors – the delights of low-paid theatre,” says David, a Leeds-born actor of Czech descent who returned to Yorkshire a couple of years ago after seven or eight years in London, where he studied at LAMDA.

Read the full interview here >

With Mooted Theatre’s Macbeth just around the corner we speak to director Mark France about his past, present and what lies next for Mooted.

Could you tell us a bit about your own background?

I started directing about fifteen years ago down in my home town of Poole, but only really pursued it professionally after completing my postgraduate studies in Leeds in 2003. Since then I’ve worked at Hull Truck, Harrogate Theatre, West Yorkshire Playhouse and Theatre in the Mill in Bradford. I also do a lot of schools work, and in particular work regularly for the Shakespeare Schools’ Festival. Here in York I directed A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Henry VI for York Shakespeare Project, and as well as my work for Mooted I worked for five years for a Leeds-based company, Icabod, and directed several touring productions for them. At the moment I’m also researching a PhD examining rehearsal methods
when working with Shakespearean verse, as well as teaching at the University
of York. Read the rest here >

In the run up to the show we’re going to be opening the blog up to the creative team behind our production of Macbeth and let them explain the inner workings of the show.

First up - Movement Director Audrie Woodhouse!

http://www.woodhousetheatre.co.uk/

Audrie is a Professional Actress and Performance Coach with more than ten years of teaching experience. She specialises in Mask and Physical theatre and is proud to have worked with practitioners such as John Wright, Toby Wilshire, Luke Dixon, Emily Grey and Gregory Doran as well as companies including Trestle, NTC and for The Royal Shakespeare Company as Mask Consultant.

In her full and varied career as an actress she has enjoyed roles in Theatre, Film and Television. She most recently graduated from University of York with a Masters in Theatre: Writing, Directing and Performance for which she gained distinction and won the Outstanding Project Prize for Highest Achievement. Audrie is the founder of CityDramaLab and Director of Woodhouse Theatre Connections.

“For this production of Macbeth the aim for me was to provide the cast with physical tools that would help to inform their interpretation of character and scene in a way which is not stereotypical. The challenge given by the director was to find new ways of expressing themes such as war and starvation on an epic level. In early rehearsals the actors were encouraged to work with abstract themes as a collective and to find new perspectives from within themselves in order to find a unique representation that was specific to the actors as individuals and as a company.

We preferred to call the witches by their other name, ‘Weird sisters’ as Shakespeare also called them. We were not looking for a stereotypical representation of a witch as seen many times before but one which came directly from the personal qualities the actors found during a workshop. I think the actresses give a very human yet chilling representation of three broken and rotted women and their existence is reflected in the world represented in this production. All the actors have striven to bring a unique, varied and personal performance to the audience in this production.”

Find out more about Audrie’s work at http://www.woodhousetheatre.co.uk/