Macbeth’s Dagger Soliloquy (Part 2)

Using Round/By/Through to explore Macbeth’s state of mind.

In my last post I wrote about using proxemics, focus and opposition to explore Macbeth’s dagger soliloquy with students. Today I want to take it a step further and apply a version of Frantic Assembly‘s Round/By/Through technique to it.

This task works in pairs or threes, but involves close physical proximity, and ideally physical contact, so will have to be put on hold, or at least significantly modified, until social distancing isn’t a thing any more.

Round/By/Through

Before starting this task, students need to have mapped out Macbeth’s thoughts throughout the soliloquy as explained in my last post:

• Macbeth wants to kill Duncan. (“Yes”)
• Macbeth doesn’t want to kill Duncan. (“No”)
• Macbeth isn’t sure he wants to kill Duncan. (“Not Sure”)

It is useful, but not essential if they have also explored carried out the proxemics, focus and opposition activities.

Place the students in pairs. These need to be with people they will feel comfortable working closely, and physically with. The exercise works best if they have different interpretations of Macbeth’s changing state of mind through the soliloquy.

The Round/By/Through technique is a way of creating a simple movement sequence of movements. It is described in detail in The Frantic Assembly Book of Devising Theatre by Scott Graham and Steven Hoggett. We are going to use it to visualise Macbeth’s conflicting thoughts struggling against each other.

Step 1
Begin by having two students placing themselves in a space close to each other, and label themselves A and B. (This will also work in a group of 3)

A begins by changing their positions in the space using one of the actions “round”, “by” or “though”:

Round: Move around your partner in a circular movement. It is up to you how far you travel round them, but stay close to them. There might be rotation of the person doing the circling, so for example if you have travelled 180° around them from in front to behind, you may end up back-to-back, front-to-back, or side-to-back. Encourage the students to lead from the hips when starting the movement.

Through: This is a movement in which you pass between your partner’s arm and their body, by lifting their arm. The lifting should be done by placing the fingers or back of the hand under your partners elbow or wrist and lifting it to make space between their arm and body to move through. The person whose arm is being lifted should put no effort into it, allowing their partner to lift the arm.
(Frantic suggest that movement through the legs be saved for more advanced students. It might have a place in the final step of this activity, but you will need to have the students really focus on intended effect, not “having fun crawling through someone’s legs”).

By: “By” is a movement used when a “Round” or “Through” has created a space between person A and person B, and is simply a closing up of the space to stand closer to your partner.

Have the pairs create a series of 6 to 8 of these moves, alternating A, B, A, B…

Step 2
We’re now going to add another type of movement to the sequence, a “Shift”, from a modified version of the task I was introduced to in workshops run by Frantic Assembly.

Shift: Move your partner to another position. This is best done by placing your hands on the outside of their upper arms / shoulders, and guiding them into the position you want them in.

Have the students add two or three shifts into their sequence.

Step 3
Now ask the students to check that they have brought focus and opposition forward from the earlier tasks. Ask them to check that they have chosen a point on the wall (to represent the dagger), and are remaining focused on that point, and that they are adding opposing energy or tension in the opposite direction to their movement.

Step 4
After you’ve watched the students’ sequences, and commented on their effectiveness, it’s time to apply the technique to Macbeth’s soliloquy.

If you have done the movement activities from the last post have the students show their partner the movement sequence they created for the soliloquy. They should do this by both running through it at the same time, and should look for moments when they are both moving in the same direction, and moments when their movements contrast (A moving forwards, B moving backwards; A standing still, B moving, etc).

If you haven’t done the movement work, the students can compare their “Yes”/”No”/”Not Sure” answers.

Now ask them to use “Round”, “By”, “Through” and “Shift” movements to replace or adapt their “Forwards”, “Backwards”, “Still” sequence to illustrate the conflict going on in Macbeth’s mind.

For example, if Student A has chosen “Yes” and B has “No”:

• A might move round B from behind to in front.
• B might use a backwards through movement to place themselves behind A.
• A might shift B from in front of them to one side so that A can move forwards.
• B might shift A from in from of them to behind them.
• B might move round A to make them a barrier between themself and the “dagger”.

If both have chosen “Yes”, maybe

• A might shift B from behind them to beside them.
• B might move round A from behind to beside.
• A might move through B from behind and stop close beside B.

And so on.

Gradually, they will be building up a movement sequence that shows Macbeth’s conscience warring with itself, the different pressures on him conflicting with each other in some moments, and at other times coming together as a single intention.

Expansion: A further image that can be added to the task is to ask the students to find moments of balance in the sequence. These might be when both students have chosen “Not Sure”, or when one has a “Yes” and the other a “No”. Find images of balance, when all movement is stopped by the conflicting thoughts – pushing or pulling against each other to integrate into the sequence. (Discuss how Macbeth is often unable to take action in the play because of his need to see and understand all sides of the issue before making a decision, and that is often the words or deeds of others that push him to action rather than his own desires).

Step 5
You have a number of choices for performing the movement sequence:

• The teacher reads the soliloquy aloud as the students perform their sequence.
• The students speak it as they perform (If they’ve been working on it long enough to memorise it. It’s probably best to offer this as an optional extension to more able students.)
• A recording of the soliloquy – teacher / professional recording / the students themselves.
• In silence.
• With music.
• Other students reading.