Open Forum

I am thinking of doing Macbeth with my upper school students next year because I will have some really strong seniors, including a great candidate for Mackie himself, and a two terrific Lady Mackie possibilities.  However, we always have more girls than boys and I will probably only have 5 or 6 boys audition in total.  As a result,  I will be doing a lot of gender bending for other roles. I'm fine with that, but wondered if anyone else has had experience with cross-gender casting for this particular play and what roles were found to be the most effective when played by women.

Thanks!

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Susan Speidel
Chairman of the Performing Arts Department
Morristown-Beard School
Springfield NJ
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Whenever I've done the Scottish play and had a lot of female performers I would play them as female soldiers, not females playing males. I place it in a fairly non-specific place/time and it becomes believable.

 Also, a great place to get nice hoodies to use for the soldiers is:

http://www.dharmatrading.com/clothing/women/dharma-hoodie.html

 

They take dye well and look great. The hood can become a cowl.

Kilt pattern:

http://www.scottishdance.net/highland/MakingKilt.html

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John Perry
Drama Instructor
Atherton High School
Louisville KY
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Original Message:
Sent: 02-07-2015 13:38
From: Susan Speidel
Subject: Gender Bending The Scottish Play

I am thinking of doing Macbeth with my upper school students next year because I will have some really strong seniors, including a great candidate for Mackie himself, and a two terrific Lady Mackie possibilities.  However, we always have more girls than boys and I will probably only have 5 or 6 boys audition in total.  As a result,  I will be doing a lot of gender bending for other roles. I'm fine with that, but wondered if anyone else has had experience with cross-gender casting for this particular play and what roles were found to be the most effective when played by women.

Thanks!

------------------------------
Susan Speidel
Chairman of the Performing Arts Department
Morristown-Beard School
Springfield NJ
------------------------------

When I produced Macbeth here in 2002, I used 6 young ladies for the witches:  3 of them were of the usual macabre-looking variety, and 3 of them--matching "mates" of the first 3 in hair color, ethnicity, etc.--were portrayed as exotically beautiful.  Whenever they appeared, only Macbeth saw and responded to the beautiful versions; Macduff, on the other hand, only could see the traditional "weird" ones.  This accentuated the seductiveness of their prophecies for Macbeth, while also giving 3 more ladies great roles.  Their lines overlapped one another, with the beautiful witches wearing body mics to give their voices an unearthly sound.

Depending upon what time period you use for you setting, women could be warriors as well.  This wouldn't have worked well for ours, as we set it in the more traditional "early Scottish" period.  But if you set it in a kind of "parallel universe" pseudo-modern/futuristic time (as I did, with good results, for our Coriolanus last year), then your gender choices can open up quite a bit.  Of course there can also be be smaller female servant and messenger roles supporting Ladies Macbeth and Macduff--and with a bit of clever re-writing of a couple of lines, the Porter (a marvelous and memorable cameo) could be done by a female.

 Good luck!

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David Montee
Director Theatre Division
Interlochen MI
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Original Message:
Sent: 02-07-2015 13:38
From: Susan Speidel
Subject: Gender Bending The Scottish Play

I am thinking of doing Macbeth with my upper school students next year because I will have some really strong seniors, including a great candidate for Mackie himself, and a two terrific Lady Mackie possibilities.  However, we always have more girls than boys and I will probably only have 5 or 6 boys audition in total.  As a result,  I will be doing a lot of gender bending for other roles. I'm fine with that, but wondered if anyone else has had experience with cross-gender casting for this particular play and what roles were found to be the most effective when played by women.

Thanks!

------------------------------
Susan Speidel
Chairman of the Performing Arts Department
Morristown-Beard School
Springfield NJ
------------------------------

Hi Susan,

My husband and I started our own Shakespeare company and have performed the Scottish play twice over the years.  Our company is called Bare Bodkins as we do it outside in the park with minimal costumes, tech and set.  We also do it with minimal casting.  I believe we did this play with 11 actors and had more women than men.

My suggestion is that MacBeth and MacDuff are the only "must have" men roles.  We had enough men to cast Duncan and Malcolm as men.  We used a female for Banquo, Angus and Ross.  As long as your actresses can play the strength of those roles, the audience will accept whatever convention you lay before them.

This is my favorite of the tragedies.  Enjoy!
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Vickie Fuller
Yardley PA
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Original Message:
Sent: 02-07-2015 13:38
From: Susan Speidel
Subject: Gender Bending The Scottish Play

I am thinking of doing Macbeth with my upper school students next year because I will have some really strong seniors, including a great candidate for Mackie himself, and a two terrific Lady Mackie possibilities.  However, we always have more girls than boys and I will probably only have 5 or 6 boys audition in total.  As a result,  I will be doing a lot of gender bending for other roles. I'm fine with that, but wondered if anyone else has had experience with cross-gender casting for this particular play and what roles were found to be the most effective when played by women.

Thanks!

------------------------------
Susan Speidel
Chairman of the Performing Arts Department
Morristown-Beard School
Springfield NJ
------------------------------

About three years ago we took a production to Florida State Thespians that did serious gender-blind casting where I some Earthy actresses. We presented the play as if the society were matriarchal in nature...inspired from Boudicca and how Celtic women would lead and fight on the field, own property, and head the family if their possessions outnumbered their husbands.  Macbeth, Macduff, Banquo, Angus, Duncan, Malcolm, and Donalbain were all female - Lady Macbeth became Lord Macbeth, Ross, and the three witches were cast as male (we treated Ross like an underling/brown-nosing character vs. a thane).  We did other inventive techniques to use all the actors in all the scenes, too...Now, I have seen Macbeth/Lady Macbeth and others switched, but there was no apparent slant/purpose theatrically for this to happen, and the shows weren't very successful (in my opinion) - my suggestion: have a clear dramatic purpose and rational behind your approach - why are the genders switched?  It should be more than just as a way to suit your casting pool - if you can devise that purpose and have the students understand why it is being presented in this manner, then you will have a richer production.
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Dave Thomas
Jacksonville FL
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Original Message:
Sent: 02-07-2015 13:38
From: Susan Speidel
Subject: Gender Bending The Scottish Play

I am thinking of doing Macbeth with my upper school students next year because I will have some really strong seniors, including a great candidate for Mackie himself, and a two terrific Lady Mackie possibilities.  However, we always have more girls than boys and I will probably only have 5 or 6 boys audition in total.  As a result,  I will be doing a lot of gender bending for other roles. I'm fine with that, but wondered if anyone else has had experience with cross-gender casting for this particular play and what roles were found to be the most effective when played by women.

Thanks!

------------------------------
Susan Speidel
Chairman of the Performing Arts Department
Morristown-Beard School
Springfield NJ
------------------------------

I did a post-apocalyptic Mac with a male Macbeth and female Macduff. Other roles had similar variety, and all roles were played as the actor's own gender. Costumes were vaguely modern and setting was urban with the suggestion that the time was the near future. ------------------------------ Barb Lachman Drama Director (former) Shoreline WA ------------------------------
Original Message: Sent: 02-07-2015 13:38 From: Susan Speidel Subject: Gender Bending The Scottish Play I am thinking of doing Macbeth with my upper school students next year because I will have some really strong seniors, including a great candidate for Mackie himself, and a two terrific Lady Mackie possibilities. However, we always have more girls than boys and I will probably only have 5 or 6 boys audition in total. As a result, I will be doing a lot of gender bending for other roles. I'm fine with that, but wondered if anyone else has had experience with cross-gender casting for this particular play and what roles were found to be the most effective when played by women. Thanks! ------------------------------ Susan Speidel Chairman of the Performing Arts Department Morristown-Beard School Springfield NJ ------------------------------

When we did it several years ago, I had a few gender-bender roles. Lennox, Caithness, Mentieth, Fleance, Banquo, and "Duffling" - also the Old Man. We had it set in Art Deco 1920s, so we could do a lot with females in male roles as a thematic element. The kids loved it, and we had a great audience response. ------------------------------ Cynthia Calhoun Teacher Maricopa AZ ------------------------------
Original Message: Sent: 02-07-2015 13:38 From: Susan Speidel Subject: Gender Bending The Scottish Play I am thinking of doing Macbeth with my upper school students next year because I will have some really strong seniors, including a great candidate for Mackie himself, and a two terrific Lady Mackie possibilities. However, we always have more girls than boys and I will probably only have 5 or 6 boys audition in total. As a result, I will be doing a lot of gender bending for other roles. I'm fine with that, but wondered if anyone else has had experience with cross-gender casting for this particular play and what roles were found to be the most effective when played by women. Thanks! ------------------------------ Susan Speidel Chairman of the Performing Arts Department Morristown-Beard School Springfield NJ ------------------------------

I am doing MacB next year in my honors class and plan to cast both Lady M and MacB as females.  I am seriously considering casting all roles as females.  I have directed other Shakespeare shows and often cast without thought of gender.  I have encountered no problems with this type of casting.
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Christopher Veneris
Theatre Educator
Guilford County Schools
Greensboro NC
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Original Message:
Sent: 02-07-2015 13:38
From: Susan Speidel
Subject: Gender Bending The Scottish Play

I am thinking of doing Macbeth with my upper school students next year because I will have some really strong seniors, including a great candidate for Mackie himself, and a two terrific Lady Mackie possibilities.  However, we always have more girls than boys and I will probably only have 5 or 6 boys audition in total.  As a result,  I will be doing a lot of gender bending for other roles. I'm fine with that, but wondered if anyone else has had experience with cross-gender casting for this particular play and what roles were found to be the most effective when played by women.

Thanks!

------------------------------
Susan Speidel
Chairman of the Performing Arts Department
Morristown-Beard School
Springfield NJ
------------------------------

My alma mater recently did Macbeth and had Macbeth played by a girl. It went over very well and the director recently wrote an article for the SDC organizational journal. The article was shared by the director recently on Facebook and I thought you might enjoy reading it as well since you are asking similar questions! Enjoy! 

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Clare Jaymes
Executive Assistant to the Executive Director
Educational Theatre Association
Cincinnati OH
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 02-07-2015 13:38
From: Susan Speidel
Subject: Gender Bending The Scottish Play

I am thinking of doing Macbeth with my upper school students next year because I will have some really strong seniors, including a great candidate for Mackie himself, and a two terrific Lady Mackie possibilities.  However, we always have more girls than boys and I will probably only have 5 or 6 boys audition in total.  As a result,  I will be doing a lot of gender bending for other roles. I'm fine with that, but wondered if anyone else has had experience with cross-gender casting for this particular play and what roles were found to be the most effective when played by women.

Thanks!

------------------------------
Susan Speidel
Chairman of the Performing Arts Department
Morristown-Beard School
Springfield NJ
------------------------------

Alas, I've not yet presented this particular play in a less usual time period (someday), but I my students have presented it over the years and I think the Doctor has always been female (played more like a healer/medicine woman).  I've had female Fleances (the crucial plot point as far as I can tell is that Banquo has offspring, why not a daughter who could give birth to a line of kings?).  Other people have mentioned some of my other strategies: "Daughter of Macduff" rather than son, "Old Woman" rather than old man, etc.  I've done a female Porter, although, teaching middle school as I do, I usually trim out a lot of the Porter's big monologue (all the good jokes, basically).  Also, you could include the Hecate scene, which gives another actress a featured moment.  And, of course, the dinner scene with the "univited guest" could have Lords and Ladies at it.  None of these are really radical "gender-bending," in terms of innovation of the story, but they are workable tactics, and, aren't we always just trying to make it work.

(Now you've got me thinking, I'm kind of intrigued by the idea of a female Banquo.  There could actually be some interesting gender exploration there of how Macbeth, as a man, receives the prophesies vs. how Banquo does.  I once had a female Benvolio (playing it female) in R&J, and it actually opened up a few things about that character's function in the play).

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Ryan Moore
Theatre Teacher and Forensics Coach
Ferndale MI
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 02-07-2015 13:38
From: Susan Speidel
Subject: Gender Bending The Scottish Play

I am thinking of doing Macbeth with my upper school students next year because I will have some really strong seniors, including a great candidate for Mackie himself, and a two terrific Lady Mackie possibilities.  However, we always have more girls than boys and I will probably only have 5 or 6 boys audition in total.  As a result,  I will be doing a lot of gender bending for other roles. I'm fine with that, but wondered if anyone else has had experience with cross-gender casting for this particular play and what roles were found to be the most effective when played by women.

Thanks!

------------------------------
Susan Speidel
Chairman of the Performing Arts Department
Morristown-Beard School
Springfield NJ
------------------------------