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34 - Art and Design: History, Practice and Theory
University of Westminster
Macbeth
Macbeth is a film adaptation of a production of Shakespeare’s play, which was originally directed for Chichester Festival Theatre by Rupert Goold. John Wyver was the lead co-producer of this television production. The film, which like the stage version was directed by Rupert Goold, aimed to make a vivid and visceral adaptation that exploited the genre conventions of horror films. Yet at the same time it wished to respect and translate to the screen core components of Shakespeare’s play, including its language, as well as the look, feel and affective qualities of the staging. Wyver’s position as co-producer involved a leading creative role in the film adaptation process, which developed Wyver’s ongoing project of translation of stage productions to the screen. Winner of a Peabody Award, USA, 2010.
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There had been two earlier notable television adaptations of British theatrical stagings of Macbeth: in 1977 Trevor Nunn recorded a studio version of his RSC production with Ian McKellen and Judi Dench, and in 2000 Gregory Doran directed a location-based adaptation of his RSC production, on which Wyver was co-producer. But by 2009 such productions were rare as executives were wary about commissioning adaptations that they believed would be hidebound by ‘theatrical’ acting, static presentation and unadventurous screen language. Wyver was lead creative co-producer for this 2009 television version of Goold’s acclaimed stage production. The research questions that Wyver and his team asked included: How can the screen language of ‘classical Hollywood cinema’ and continuity editing be utilised to translate to the screen an existing theatre production of Macbeth? How can genre conventions from Gothic and horror cinema be applied successfully in the production of a screen adaptation of a Shakespeare staging? Macbeth was filmed across three weeks in subterranean rooms and tunnels around and beneath Welbeck Abbey in Nottinghamshire. Designs for the theatrical original were re-interpreted and combined with the visual opportunities offered by the unique location. Macbeth is unique in Britain as a film adaptation of a Shakespeare staging that combines achieved performances of the playwright’s text with popular genre elements derived from a wide range of cinema references. The director of photography and the second unit cinematographer collaborated with the director and John Wyver as lead co-producer to develop a screen language that combined ‘classical’ film conventions and genre elements in a form that responded to and respected staging and performances created for and refined by extended theatrical playing.
