Director's Blog - Act I Scene III

In this scene, there are a lot of gothic elements created by Shakespeare. The witches use dark language such as "killing swine." This short, blunt statement shows their brutality and how little murder means to them. The actors should make words like this very sharp to get across how vile the witches are. The "weird sisters" appear to have a very strong bond, their lines are similar and repetitive reflecting their force therefore making them more powerful. They talk in riddles which the audience wouldn't understand, this emphasises their connection and relationship to each other. The use of thunder to set the scene is very effective as it is parallel to who the witches are. The scene should be a great open place, similar to moors. The atmosphere created should be creepy and tense to have the audience captivated with what the witches are talking about.
When the drums come in, the should be extremely dramatic to heighten tension and draw in the audience. The witches chanting together again represents their unity, their words should be exactly in time with each other. Words like "peace" and "wound" should be pronounced almost like hissing sounds to suggest evil connations linked with a snake. This is like the devil, establishing a gothic presence as Macbeth and Banquo approach.
Macbeth appears to be the gothic lead as after arriving his first line is "so foul and fair a day I have not seen." This foreshadows his destructive nature later in the play, so should be heavily emphasised. Banquo's statement "you should be women; and yet your beard forbids me to interpret" can be interpreted as merely just a comment on the difficulties of distinguishing the witches as humans or something else because them seem neither male nor female. However it could also be coming from a feminist approach, stating the witches should be male because they are not acting in the tradition female manner. Either way, the actor should say it spitefully as it is a harsh comment. As the scene continues it is clear Macbeth isn't as trusting as Banquo, he should appear uneasy and on edge as he feels very tense in this strange situation. However he should also appear intrigued as what they say is promising to him so when they vanish he should appear desperate to hear more.