Poly students were able to watch the famous soliloquies and climactic battle scenes of “Macbeth” thanks to two field trips to A Noise Within Theatre in Pasadena. The cast and crew of Poly’s production of “Macbeth” and the sophomore class took two separate field trips to A Noise Within’s production of Shakespeare’s classic tragedy on Wednesday, Feb. 26, and Wednesday, Mar. 5, respectively.
While the cast and crew field trip celebrated their recent performance, the sophomore class trip coincided with the tenth graders reading the play in English 2.
“Plays are meant to be seen,” remarked Upper School Performing Arts Teacher Sam Robinson. “Reading it and investigating it is excellent and totally worthwhile, but actually seeing it on its feet is an immersive experience that was the author’s intent.”
While keeping Shakespeare’s original language, A Noise Within chose to set the Scottish play in New Orleans around the late 19th and early 20th century. The set, which consisted mostly of projections on a backdrop, was designed to reflect the Orleans setting while keeping certain Shakespearean elements like columns. Costumes and music were also designed to evoke turn-of-the-century New Orleans.
“The play was very engaging,” shared sophomore Madeline Bray. “I thought that the actress who portrayed Lady Macbeth [Julanne Chidi Hill] was extremely talented, and the ‘out, damned spot’ monologue was moving.”
The cast and crew field trip included a tour of the backstage led by A Noise Within’s Director of Education Lea Madda, followed by a workshop facilitated by “Macbeth” Sound Designer Jeff Gardner.
“He talked us through the process of working with the director to create a soundscape,” explained Robinson. “Taking a look at the context and the time period and the music and all of that was fascinating.”
Seeing the performance will guide sophomores as they analyze the play in their English classes, cluing them into the emotion and drama of the tragedy.
“Because of the older diction and the inversion and sentence structures, it’s really hard to follow, so seeing it performed at least you can see through characters’ emotions, through movement, what’s actually going on,” said Upper School English Teacher Laura Marion, who arranged the sophomore class field trip.
Robinson hopes to bring more Shakespeare to Garland stage in the coming years.
“I think Shakespeare is a foundation for theater artists, and because we study it in class on campus, it’s super important to be producing it on campus,” Robinson said.
