The Masks Of Macbeth In William Shakespeare's Play

On September 29, 2016, I went to see Macbeth, a play written by William Shakespeare. This production was adapted for Young Audiences by Christopher Matsos and directed by Geoffrey Wilson. I viewed this play at the Lincoln Theatre. This version of the production was performed in a steampunk Scotland. It was supposed to suggest that there was something “punk rock” and cool about the play. Furthermore, this play was not at all what I had expected, the characters were dressed in dark cloaks, there was one tree, and they used a lot of sheets. One of the design elements that stood out the most the masks the background characters wore. Throughout the entire play, the cast who was not in scene at the time, used masks and made weird noises in the back to create the illusion of a post-apocalyptic atmosphere. I believe Heather Wright, properties master, created these masks in order to separate the characters acting out their scene from the background characters. I cannot pinpoint one exact moment; however, I remember constantly seeing the characters finish their part and then immediately turn to put the mask on and
This issue challenged conventional understandings of the time because women were supposed not supposed to participate in civil or public matters and Lady Macbeth, played by Alexandra Davis, was very dominant and influential. When Macbeth, played by Eric Stoneman, was refusing the idea of killing King Duncan because of his morals, Lady Macbeth had no problem questioning his manliness and persuading him to eventually kill him. This continues to challenge the idea that women did not play important role during that time because of how powerful her character was. Furthermore, this particular issue as a whole suggests that the play was depicting challenged social constructs and eventually leading to the demise of the women by showing what is expected to happen if a woman had influence in male dominated