{"id":35581,"date":"2017-11-03T13:14:13","date_gmt":"2017-11-03T17:14:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?p=35581"},"modified":"2017-11-06T11:10:35","modified_gmt":"2017-11-06T16:10:35","slug":"emu-presents-shakespeares-scottish-play-twist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2017\/emu-presents-shakespeares-scottish-play-twist\/","title":{"rendered":"Female cast presents Shakespeare’s Scottish play … with a twist"},"content":{"rendered":"

Eastern Mennonite University\u2019s fall production of \u201cMacbeth\u201d demanded ingenuity from theater professor and director Heidi Winters Vogel<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Vogel wanted to give her senior theater majors<\/a>, all women, an opportunity to play Shakespeare\u2019s complex characters. But the play called for just two female main characters.<\/p>\n

What to do? Vogel\u2019s answer: Make the setting a contemporary women\u2019s prison.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Emma Roth as Macbeth.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThe challenge for me was to identify a milieu where women dominate the brutal landscape of the story,\u201d she writes in the director\u2019s notes. \u201cShakespeare set the action in medieval Scotland, a harsh and savage environment where the struggle to survive was often deadly. Violent, savage, harsh and retributive are words used to describe the contemporary American prison system. There the women build alliances, negotiate treaties and struggle to survive.\u201d<\/p>\n

Performances in the Mainstage Theater are Friday, Nov. 10, and Thursday through Saturday, Nov. 16-18, at 7:30 p.m. A Sunday, Nov. 12 matinee, begins at 3 p.m.<\/p>\n

A dual challenge<\/strong><\/p>\n

Cast members are faced with not only learning and memorizing Shakespeare\u2019s words, but understanding the prison environment.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have been preparing for my role by going in depth through my lines to make sure that I understand every word and sentence,\u201d said Clara Bush, who plays Lady Macbeth. \u201cI have also been doing my best to learn what prison life is like for women to get a better idea of how I should interpret Shakespearean language in this context to keep the integrity of the speech while also putting a new spin on it. I want to do justice to the prison setting and try to be true to it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Emma Roth, in the role of Macbeth, is \u201cdigging into the relationships between my character and every other character in the play and how they interact and what causes their actions against or with each other.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s really unique about setting Macbeth in a prison culture,\u201d Roth said, \u201cis that it works really well, which is kind of creepy, but it\u2019s also really cool how easily that concept meshes with this play.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last week, one of Vogel\u2019s rehearsal warm-ups focused on the characters as prisoners. Actors walked on stage in shoes they\u2019ll wear in performance. This helps them get a sense of how their characters will move. The guards\u2019 combat boots gives a sense of power, inmates\u2019 soft soles not so much. They have to work harder at being tough.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Clara Bush (left) and Emma Roth.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Vogel talked to the cast as they walked, suggesting questions to ask themselves about their characters and to consider what these incarcerated women go through on a daily basis. Slowly, a transformation from students to long-time inmates emerged physically \u2014 with clenched jaws, darting eyes, stiff backs or a walk that warns \u2018don\u2019t even think about it.\u2019<\/p>\n

At the end of the exercise, Vogel commented on the scary psychopath junior nursing major Alyssa Shenk is creating for one of her roles. \u201cThat\u2019s what I was going for,\u201d Shenk said, smiling as she broke character.<\/p>\n

Learning stage combat<\/h3>\n

Actor preparations have also included stage combat, something Shakespeare\u2019s females don\u2019t often participate in. In this production, however, the women seem to relish creating mayhem during a prison rumble.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is thrilling to engage in a new, foreign part of myself that I don\u2019t access much,\u201d Bush said. \u201cI am not very physically aggressive in my normal life, so it\u2019s been interesting to tackle the task of learning how to make it look like you are punching and kicking and pulling people\u2019s hair. It is certainly out of the norm for me, and it\u2019s very fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

Vogel\u2019s concept not only allows her students to perform a verse play, but also to take on scary, complex roles in a Shakespearean tragedy.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis one is certainly dark, the themes of ambition and violence, and especially how power corrupts are pertinent today,\u201d Vogel said. Several actors made comparisons to current events during their break. \u201cIt also gives our senior female performance majors an opportunity that they may never have again. Mostly it is about serving the women of the theater department with a challenge that hones their craft.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tickets can be purchased online, at the box office<\/a>, or by calling 540-432-4582.<\/p>\n

Cast list<\/h3>\n

Macbeth, inmate: Emma Roth<\/p>\n

Banquo (Banq), inmate: Myriam Aziz<\/p>\n

Donalbain (Bain), inmate,Murderer #2: Emily Higgins<\/p>\n

Pleance (Flea), inmate: Brooke Bevington<\/p>\n

Duncan (Dunc), king of the inmates,Hecate, warden: Renata Loberg<\/p>\n

Porter, inmate: Cassidy Bush<\/p>\n

Lennox: Caroline Murch<\/p>\n

Lady Macbeth, inmate: Clara Bush<\/p>\n

Macduff, inmate: MaKayla Baker<\/p>\n

Murderer #1: Dallas Hetrick<\/p>\n

Mrs. Macduff, Duff’s mother: Hunter Gregory<\/p>\n

Duff’s daughter: Helena Nafziger<\/p>\n

Prison psychologist: Renata Loberg<\/p>\n

Director: Heidi Vogel<\/p>\n

Assistant director: Liz Marin<\/p>\n

Stage managers: Amber Hooper and Jacob Lester<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Eastern Mennonite University\u2019s fall production of \u201cMacbeth\u201d demanded ingenuity from theater professor and director Heidi Winters Vogel. Vogel wanted to give her senior theater majors, all women, an opportunity to ... read more about Female cast presents Shakespeare’s Scottish play … with a twist<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":35583,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7931,14715,17562,5147],"tags":[11321],"feature":[17423,17426,17241,17422],"class_list":["post-35581","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts","category-campus-life","category-digest","category-theater","tag-events","feature-featured-undergrad","feature-myemu-feature","feature-news-feature","feature-news-landing-page-main-feature"],"yoast_head":"\nFemale cast presents Shakespeare's Scottish play ... with a twist - EMU News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2017\/emu-presents-shakespeares-scottish-play-twist\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Female cast presents Shakespeare's Scottish play ... with a twist - EMU News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Eastern Mennonite University\u2019s fall production of \u201cMacbeth\u201d demanded ingenuity from theater professor and director Heidi Winters Vogel. 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