Macbeth
Director, Designer, Adaptor
Quinnipiac University BA Theater Capstone
by William Shakespeare 4/16/21 - 4/18/21
My BA Theater capstone: adapting, directing, set design, costume designing, and project managing a production of Shakespeare’s Macbeth.
Pre-Production Process
When I was asked to conceive a project that not only displayed who I was as an artist but one that incorporated my entire collegiate career I knew I needed it to be big. A recurring theme in all of my work is the hunger and drive to do even more; I’m always looking for a way to get into the room as an actor, a technician, an artist, anything I can to experience the magic. To represent my career I immediately thought back to my first taste of working in theater - my sophomore year of high school production of Macbeth. It was a typical high school production: an incredibly large ensemble (that was my role!), technically barebones, and a “modern retelling through the lens of American politics”. This production opened my eyes to what you could do with Shakespeare, it’s not just old stories too difficult to understand, and as my Shakespeare knowledge grew through analysis in English classes, I was hooked.
I wanted to prove that Shakespeare isn’t old-timey high academia nonsense, that when it’s done well and deliberately even an audience member that’s never read a lick of Shakespeare leaves the theater with the story. And so I didn’t modernize it, instead I spent months reading and cutting and rereading the text to find and create the story I wanted to tell. Macbeth is a tragic love story of loss and loyalty orchestrated by the arcane.
There is so much to Lady Macbeth alone and in her relationship with Macbeth that gets overshadowed by the looming war and threat of siege that’s woven throughout the play. Despite being considered one of the greatest female characters in Shakespeare, she’s simplified far too often to a bitch who bullies her husband into murder and I think that’s a shame. Lady Macbeth can be a well-rounded and vulnerable character without losing any of her strength.
Several things stood out to me when reading Macbeth in preparation for my adaptation. One: the love and trust the Macbeth’s share is indisputable, two: what happened to their child?, three: why do the witches care about Macbeth?, and four: what connects Lady Macbeth to the witches? To start, they refer to each other as “dearest partner of greatness” (I.v.11), “dearest chuck” (III.ii.51), and other terms of endearment and up until the end of Act III, make it no secret that they are a team and that they are true equals in their relationship. After reading his letter in Act I, Lady Macbeth are both on the same page that they need to kill Duncan to cement Macbeth’s place on the throne. In Lady Macbeth’s sleepwalking monologue, she recounts the aftermath of the killing of Banquo (V.i.65), a scheme she wasn’t a part of, meaning Macbeth confided in her and sought comfort from her. Two: Lady Macbeth claims “I know how tender ‘tis to love the babe that milks me” (I.vii.63) and yet Macbeth claims “Upon my head they placed a fruitless crown/And put a barren scepter in my gripe” (III.i.66) so we know that there are currently no heirs and at some point Lady Macbeth was nursing. Three: there’s no satisfying answer in the original text as to why the witches have any stake in Macbeth and his story. Four: Lady Macbeth calls upon the spirits to remove all femininity and vulnerability from her to prepare for the murder of Duncan (I.v.47). Interestingly, she also refers to them as “murd’ring ministers” (I.v.55).
The Production
My production centered around Lady Macbeth and her relationship with Macbeth through all of the secrets, missed communications, and passion that fuel their marriage.
The cast was majority women because there’s an important aspect of gender in Macbeth that often gets overlooked: what does it mean to be a man? How is femininity a part of masculinity and in what ways do the two combine to create one whole person?
Before the start of the play, Lady Macbeth and Macbeth have lost their newborn child. Stricken with grief and loneliness while her husband is off fighting in the war, she turns to the Wayward Sisters and begs for them to take away her grief and her femininity to strengthen her relationship with her husband and for them to move on to greater things.
Except, once the first round of prophecies has been completed, Macbeth grows paranoid: with no children to succeed him and with the promise of Banquo’s royal descendants, Macbeth sits atop a hollow throne. The murders and secrets drive a wedge between the two that cannot be easily repaired. “What’s done, cannot be undone” (V.i) and they know it.
There is no rejoice or catharsis— the cursed cycle of rule isn’t broken, it’s only perpetuated by another stolen life for the chance to bear a bloodied crown.
Reflection
Spearheading such a massive project in the midst of Covid-19 on a college campus was difficult, but it forced a new sense of creativity and discovery in me. Learning how to think in camera angles and audience experience knowing that for the first time I am in control of the focal point of the audience member. It definitely changed my perspective of live theatre. The mask-wearing mandate ended up being the least of my concerns as the director, since Shakespeare is all about the words, you didn’t need to see the mouth for context the words paired with action were enough.
Production Images (see Macbeth Tab)
Production Team
Director: Abigail Nasworthy
Stage Manager: Emma Poirier
Producer / Assistant Stage Manager: Emily Kane
Lighting Designer: Julia Pecoraro
Sound Designer: Alice Mahon
A1: Tyrell J. Latouche
Set Designer: Abigail Nasworthy
Props Master: Erica Pajonas
Costume Designer: Abigail Nasworthy
Technical Director: Tyrell J. Latouche
Camera Operator: Tahiya Bade
Livestream Technician: Cortney Hannula
Faculty Shakespeare / Directing Mentor: Tom Schwans
Faculty Design Mentor: Abigail Copeland
Faculty Technical Mentor / Building Manager: Rosalie Bochansky
Quinnipiac University Department Head: Kevin Daly
Cast
Sarah Brown Macbeth
Laura Herscovici Lady Macbeth
Autumn Hirsch First Witch “Atropos” / Messenger
Amari O’Connor Second Witch “Maeverick” / Murderer
Riya Miller Third Witch “Eileithyia” / Porter
Baishampayan Sarkar Banquo
Frank Scott Macduff
Spenser Long Malcolm
Erica Pajonas Lennox / Doctor / First Apparition
Billy Schillinger Ross / Seyton / Third Apparition
Emma Bender Angus / Second Apparition
The Lifespan of a Fact
Lighting Designer
QU Fourth Wall Student Theater
by Jeremy Kareken & David Murrell and Gordon Farrell 3/5/21 - 3/7/21
This was my first production as a lighting designer. It was staged in a small blackbox classroom with a grid containing 20 incandescent Source Four Jr Zooms performed to two film cameras for online streaming. Space was one of the biggest obstacles. Fortunately, it was a small production so there weren’t too many actors or set areas that required specific lighting. I learned a lot about color balance working with incandescent light to create indoor office and home lighting as well as controlling light spread when lighting multiple areas in close proximity.
Since the production was streamed, I had to adapt to designing for film rather than for stage. Because of this, I couldn’t get away with subtle lighting changes like I could with in person audiences, the camera just wouldn’t pick it up. I also struggled with the cameras each night because during blackouts, they would attempt to refocus and rebalance in the low light. During each run I had to manually edit each lighting cue depending on how it was translating to the camera which was an interesting challenge for it being my first time as a lighting designer, but it definitely strengthened my confidence in my abilities.
Due to the small space and the fact that it was streamed, the stage manager and I had to be in the blackbox and couldn’t use a headset to call cues. Fortunately, as I was both the designer and the board operator, it allowed me to execute light cues dynamically responding to each performance live.
Production Team
Director: Kayla Jarry Stage Manager: Emily Kane Costume Design: Nicole Gibson
Set Design: Ryan Vaitkus
Lighting Design: Abigail Nasworthy
Camera Operator: Tyler Toledo
Props Master: Erica Pajonas
FourthWall President: Nick Fetherston
FourthWall Vice President: Julia Brignano
FourthWall Secretary: Abigail Nasworthy
FourthWall Treasurer: Kaitlyn Fisher
FourthWall Publicity Coordinator: Erica Pajonas
Faculty Designer: Abigail Copeland
Faculty Technical Director/Building Manager: Rosalie Bochansky
Quinnipiac University Department Head: Kevin Daly
Cast
Kaitlyn Kelly Emily Penrose
Nick Fetherston Jim Fingal
Nico Vazquez John D’Agata
Love & Information
Actor
Quinnipiac University
by Caryl Churchill 11/13/20 - 11/15/20
Production Team
Director: Rory Pelsue
Dramaturg: Ariel Siebert
Stage Manager: Kaitlyn Fisher
Assistant Stage Manager: David Desrocher
Streaming Technician: Matthew Scoopo
Short Film Supervisor: Kaitlyn Fisher
Video Editor: Ariel Siebert
Puppetry Consultant: Justin Perkins
Radio Play Engineer: Tye Hunt Fitzgerald
Short Film Directors: Kaitlyn Fisher, Abigail Nasworthy, Billy Schillinger, Christina Stoeffler, Kanayo Umelo
Ensemble
Tess Adams | Wiktoria Adamska | Sarah Brown
Nick Fetherston | Nicole Gibson | Laura Herscovici
Kaitlyn Kelly | Tyrell J. Latouche | Riya Miller
Abigail Nasworthy | Amari O’ Connor | Erica Pajonas
Baishampayan Sarkar | Billy Schillinger | Christina Stoeffler
4 A.M. Stay-at-Home-Edition
Actor
QU Fourth Wall Student Theater
by Jonathan Dorf 10/23/20-10/25/20
Production Team
Director: Julia Brignano
Stage Manager: Emma Poirier
Assistant Stage Manager: Jane Rosales
Costume Design: Emily Kane
Props Master: Sydney Reynolds
FourthWall President: Nick Fetherston
FourthWall Vice President: Julia Brignano
FourthWall Secretary: Abby Nasworthy
FourthWall Treasurer: Kaitlyn Fisher
FourthWall Publicity Coordinator: Erica Pajonas
Cast
Alexander Burns Frankie
Kayla Jarry Jane
Abigail Nasworthy Monica / Officer 2 / Monster
Emma Bender Anne / Monster Under the Bed
Nico Vazquez Hale / Jogger 1 / Monster
Nick Fetherston Simon / Fire Kid / Monster
Alessandra Varon Sleeper Kid
Frank Scott Officer 1 / Monster
Kaitlyn Kelly Juliet / Monster
Anthony Giangregorio Romeo / Monster Nicole Gibson Jogger 2 / Monster
RAGE: a Play with Music
Assistant Director
Quinnipiac University
Book and Lyrics by Elizabeth Dinkova | Music and Additional Lyrics by Frederick Kennedy 2/27/20 - 3/1/20
Full Production Team
Director: Elizabeth Dinkova
Assistant Director: Abigail Nasworthy
Assistant Director: Paige Parton
Stage Manager: Lauren Rosenay
Assistant Stage Manager: Amanda Devlin
Assistant Stage Manager: Kaitlyn Fisher
Assistant Stage Manager: Savannah Lawton
Student Producer: Matt Pelham
Technical Director: Rosalie Bochansky
Fight Director: Michael Rossmy
Movement Director: Emily Lutin Fuentes
Sound Design: Frederick Kennedy
Sound Engineer: Dustin Kreidler
A1: Skye McCashion
Costume Design: Herin Kaputkin
Wardrobe: Jewls Daddio
Scene Design: Abigail Copeland
Lighting Design: Ted Boyce-Smith
Assistant Lighting Design: Brendan Dillon
Board Operator: Tyrell Latouche
Projection Design: Brittany Bland
Music Director & Guitar: George Sprengelmeyer
Asst. Music Director & Accompanist: Jeehyun Kim
Asst. Music Director & Vocal Director: Jennifer Sciglibaglio
Drums: Anthony Dequattro
Bass Guitar: Len Bobinski
Cast Michael Pemberton* The Writer
Kevin Cathey Charlie
Mariah Sage* Mrs. Underwood/Rita
Tess Adams* Sandra
F. Liam Devlin Pig Pen
Kayla Jarry Susan
Jamien Jean-Baptiste Pat
Emily Kane Carol
Frank Scott Ted
Alessandra Varon Irma
*courtesy of Actors Equity Association