Throughout the play, the language used by the Witches helps to mark them out as mysterious and other-worldly. They speak in verse, but it is a form of verse that is very different from that which is used by most of Shakespeare’s characters. Many of the lines in this passage are in rhyming couplets, in contrast to the unrhymed verse used elsewhere in the play. Rather than speaking in an iambic metre, with alternating unstressed and stressed syllables, the Witches speak in a trochaic metre, with stressed syllables followed by unstressed. These heavy stresses give the Witches’ speech a sense of foreboding that emphasises their malevolence and unearthliness. In the First Witch’s lines, they make her vendetta against the sailor seem relentless. At the end of this passage, when the Witches chant in unison, they bring a sense of eeriness.
To play one of the witches, I had to develop a voice and it was a lot of characterisation and interaction. It took a while for me to develop a voice for my witch that I could use throughout as at first it kept coming and going and it was difficult and I did struggle at first. The movement part was the easiest I found. We had to move quite weirdly with a low centre of gravity and it was fun exploring different movement. During rehearsal, we tried making each witch move differently but it just disconnected us. We also choreographed some gestural movements for different parts of the play. For example, we had set movement for our first two scenes and we all did the same gestural movement when we said "Double, double, toil and trouble. Fire burn and cauldron bubble." Me, Lois and Harry worked quite well together and interacted well between us making sure me and Harry followed Lois - as she was the first witch. Our interaction with other characters was completely different. We kept a bit of a distance between us and others, we always watched them round , other stage, always keeping them in our sights. We were quite mysterious, weird and creepy, trying to send Macbeth crazy and freak out the other characters. At first it was hard to stay focused in rehearsal and get into the character but after practicing and running lines together - and once I had completely learnt my lines - it became so much easier to stay in character, focus and be more confident. If I were to improve this, I would've put something in the cauldron to make it more eerie. For example, dry ice would created a good effect of fog coming out of it. Also, to add to the atmosphere a smoke machine creating a layer of fog along the floor. Another idea is that the witches should be able to vanish. At the BOAT theatre we don't really have the ability to do this but if we performed it on a larger scale it would add a great illusion and effect to the witches.
To portray the right effect and atmosphere when speaking I had to look up text analysis to understand what they mean and what they were trying to say. When Macbeth was written, witchcraft interest bordered on hysteria and people believed they caused illness, death and disaster. They also believed they appeared in front of them as a grey cat (Graymalkin) and as a toad (Paddock), mentioned by the Witches in Act 1, Scene 1. The witches language throughout helped portray them as mysterious and other worldly. Speaking in verse was quite difficult sometimes, its a different kind of verse from the other characters but proved quite difficult at times. Most of my lines and the other witches lines were in rhyming couplets. The number three is significant for the witches aswell (there being thre witches). Throughout their dialogue, words are repeated three times e.g. "I'll do, I'll do and I'll do." Also, "the sailor’s wife ‘mounch'd, and mounch'd, and mounch'd’". Bad luck is frequently thought to come in threes. Macbeth is hailed by three titles (Thane of Glamis, Thane of Cawdor and King hereafter) and is later given three prophecies. When the Witches concoct their famous spell in Act 4, Scene 1, they begin with two references to the number three; "Thrice the brinded cat hath mew'd." and "Thrice, and once the hedge-pig whin'd".
After the final performance, I think I did well, I kind of messed up one line but I kept going and just swapped it round abit so it fit with the language and still fit with its rhyming couplet. My movement was good and I kept focused and in character the whole time. I believe I communicated my intentions across to the audience as weird, creepy and mysterious. By moving in weird ways around the stage and with my facial expression. I also committed my time to this by making my own costume and I helped with make up on the day. On the day, rehearsing in the space in full costume made it a lot easier to get into character, we also had to make sure we covered all facings and it just helped having a run first and making sure we spoke loud enough and that our movement was big enough. Throughout the show I kept my head down slightly so my hair would fall in front of my face but I kept my eyeline up to look weird and creepy
To play one of the witches, I had to develop a voice and it was a lot of characterisation and interaction. It took a while for me to develop a voice for my witch that I could use throughout as at first it kept coming and going and it was difficult and I did struggle at first. The movement part was the easiest I found. We had to move quite weirdly with a low centre of gravity and it was fun exploring different movement. During rehearsal, we tried making each witch move differently but it just disconnected us. We also choreographed some gestural movements for different parts of the play. For example, we had set movement for our first two scenes and we all did the same gestural movement when we said "Double, double, toil and trouble. Fire burn and cauldron bubble." Me, Lois and Harry worked quite well together and interacted well between us making sure me and Harry followed Lois - as she was the first witch. Our interaction with other characters was completely different. We kept a bit of a distance between us and others, we always watched them round , other stage, always keeping them in our sights. We were quite mysterious, weird and creepy, trying to send Macbeth crazy and freak out the other characters. At first it was hard to stay focused in rehearsal and get into the character but after practicing and running lines together - and once I had completely learnt my lines - it became so much easier to stay in character, focus and be more confident. If I were to improve this, I would've put something in the cauldron to make it more eerie. For example, dry ice would created a good effect of fog coming out of it. Also, to add to the atmosphere a smoke machine creating a layer of fog along the floor. Another idea is that the witches should be able to vanish. At the BOAT theatre we don't really have the ability to do this but if we performed it on a larger scale it would add a great illusion and effect to the witches.
To portray the right effect and atmosphere when speaking I had to look up text analysis to understand what they mean and what they were trying to say. When Macbeth was written, witchcraft interest bordered on hysteria and people believed they caused illness, death and disaster. They also believed they appeared in front of them as a grey cat (Graymalkin) and as a toad (Paddock), mentioned by the Witches in Act 1, Scene 1. The witches language throughout helped portray them as mysterious and other worldly. Speaking in verse was quite difficult sometimes, its a different kind of verse from the other characters but proved quite difficult at times. Most of my lines and the other witches lines were in rhyming couplets. The number three is significant for the witches aswell (there being thre witches). Throughout their dialogue, words are repeated three times e.g. "I'll do, I'll do and I'll do." Also, "the sailor’s wife ‘mounch'd, and mounch'd, and mounch'd’". Bad luck is frequently thought to come in threes. Macbeth is hailed by three titles (Thane of Glamis, Thane of Cawdor and King hereafter) and is later given three prophecies. When the Witches concoct their famous spell in Act 4, Scene 1, they begin with two references to the number three; "Thrice the brinded cat hath mew'd." and "Thrice, and once the hedge-pig whin'd".
After the final performance, I think I did well, I kind of messed up one line but I kept going and just swapped it round abit so it fit with the language and still fit with its rhyming couplet. My movement was good and I kept focused and in character the whole time. I believe I communicated my intentions across to the audience as weird, creepy and mysterious. By moving in weird ways around the stage and with my facial expression. I also committed my time to this by making my own costume and I helped with make up on the day. On the day, rehearsing in the space in full costume made it a lot easier to get into character, we also had to make sure we covered all facings and it just helped having a run first and making sure we spoke loud enough and that our movement was big enough. Throughout the show I kept my head down slightly so my hair would fall in front of my face but I kept my eyeline up to look weird and creepy
https://www.bl.uk/shakespeare/articles/character-analysis-the-witches-in-macbeth
http://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/higher/english/macbeth/language/revision/3/
https://www.bl.uk/shakespeare/articles/character-analysis-the-witches-in-macbeth
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