Tales of the Weird and Unusual will take you back to ghost stories told around the campfire on a brisk Halloween evening. Get your s'mores and hot cocoa ready, and maybe bring a friend to grab onto when things go BUMP in the night!

It began back in December of 2019 (or something like an eternity ago)....

Set Design--Kathy Voecks

The set design for Macbeth was inspired by both historical and contemporary architecture and events. We chose to set the play in the near future, when a recent environmental disaster has destabilized the current order and allows Macbeth to make his grasp for power. The space is intentionally neutral, allowing for quick transitions between locations. Set pieces such as crates, oil drums, and sandbags would provide both a military environment and define changes in location. The architecture is meant to reference the medieval stonework of the period Shakespeare wrote about, but also feels timeless. Whatever catastrophe has turned the world upside down, it is recent enough that there hasn't been a total loss of infrastructure but resources are becoming limited which forces the armies to improvise in creating some of their necessities.

In this environment, heraldry was to play an important part in defining power structures, with Duncan's old guard represented by the Scottish lion rampant and Macbeth the St. Andrew's Cross (Saltire). The lion rampant traditionally belonged to the Scottish monarchy, while the Saltire is the flag flown by Parliament and ordinary citizens. In our production, Duncan's power is waning, and as such, his insignia is faded and obscured by layers of paint. Macbeth's supporters would have modified it to reflect the new monarchy by adding the crown, dagger and monogram of their new king. In keeping with the haphazard and evolving structure of Macbeth's army, the new flags would be constructed out of blue tarps, white tape, and other found materials. With the defeat of Macbeth, Malcom would adopt Duncan's standard, but in a modernized form.

Costume Design--Dana Pinkston

The costume design for Macbeth developed from one image the director handed me early on:

This garment suggested so many of the aspects of the play, environment, and characters: violence, fading patriotism, weathered and decayed surfaces both literal and figurative, and a giant cross to aim at.

My costume research stemmed from this image, and I explored costume, makeup, and hairstyles from a broad array of sources: Indigenous tribes of America, contemporary Scottish uniforms, goth, punk, cosplay and fashion straight from the runway.

The men's costumes became based on the idea of a milder post-apocalyptic warrior; one that wears the kilt with a tactical vest, coming straight from bloody, dirty fighting. There are tattoos of numbers, medals of found objects, but also an obvious military uniform that all men wear.

Other aspects of the design were to give the women pants that allow them to move freely and forcefully while juxtaposing them with the men in kilts. The Weird Sisters were young women scavengers, enjoying rotten discarded garments that they keep adding to as they find totemic objects.

In a world of dirt, dust, and little water, the ability to wear a snow-white garment illustrates the importance and power of the wearer. Therefore, once crowned, The Macbeths are dressed in white. As the ghost of Duncan appears, he too is dressed in white.

Had the design been fully realized, the costumes would have helped display a dying world filled with morally dying characters.

Costume renderings by Dana Pinkston©

Lighting Design--James Davis

Lighting is perhaps the most ephemeral of the design fields. How can you communicate what light will look like on a surface, an actor, a costume? For a lighting designer, much of the work happens once the show has been in rehearsal and movement patterns have developed, but research images can help describe the color, quality and intensity of light in the early stages of the design process.

In our reality, electricity still exists, but is limited in supply, so there are also places where the light comes from burning oil drums or other fire sources. There was a plan to incorporate realistic lighting sources in order to reinforce the atmosphere of this post-apocalyptic world. We had talked about the possibility of characters carrying flashlights, having lights built into scenic elements and other practical sources as ways to make the lighting part of the larger world of the play. These sources could also give more unexpected angles, colors and textures in the lighting.

This is a frightening play, and lighting is a great medium to create unsettling effects. This can be emphasized by putting light sources at low angles, adding atmospheric effects like fog and haze, and creating strong shadows. Color can be used to create a sense of the hot, arid, desolate world these characters inhabit. Light can also be used to show shifts in location, allowing the audience to quickly understand the movement of characters from interior to exterior spaces.

Here are a few of the research images compiled by lighting designer James Davis to illustrate possibilities for using light.

Student dramaturg Donovan Watts

put together research on the play, production history, and biographical information about Shakespeare along with other interesting stuff to help illuminate the play. You can find all this over at his blog Mac-Beth-aroni and Cheese. Check it out!

What is a dramaturg? Quite simply, the dramaturg is someone who researches all sorts of information that can be used by the production team, the actors and the audience to better understand the play.