This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Skidmore chapter.
Name: Madeleine Emerick
Class Year: 2016
Her Campus: How did you get involved in theater?
Madeleine: My mom put me in a youth theater troupe when I was nine years old, and I simply couldn’t get enough of it. I found ways to participate in the theater every way I could from then on, and by the time I was 14 I was in every school play possible during the year, and then I spent my summers at a performing arts camp. I started off working mainly on musicals, but then branched out into both classical and contemporary plays by my later years in high school.
Her Campus: What is your part in the production and tell us a little bit about it.
Madeleine: In this production I play Macduff, who is also known as the Thane of Fife. Typically Macduff is portrayed as a man, however in this production I am playing her as a woman to highlight the focus on gender in this production. From Macduff’s first entrance, it is clear that she is suspicious of the misfortune that seems to be surrounding the Macbeth family. Worried about the threat of Macduff, Macbeth sends a group of murderers to kill Macduff’s family, which drives her to exact revenge on Macbeth, and end his tyrannical reign.
Her Campus: What is the most exciting part about this production?
Madeleine: For me, this production is the perfect combination of amazing opportunity as I am able to work on all the aspects of my craft that I am most passionate about. Not only do I get the opportunity to play a character which my gender would generally exclude me from, but I also am very passionate about fight choreography, and I have had the unique opportunity to work as the assistant fight choreographer on this production. I have been able to create some sequences that appear in the show, as well as fight a bunch myself, which is more than I could have ever asked for.
Her Campus: What is the biggest challenge you have with your role in Macbeth?
Madeleine: I have spent a lot of time working with the differences that come up in playing Macduff as a woman. Besides the obvious- the Macduff family is now made up of two mothers and things like that- The more challenging aspect for me is where I fit into the world of the play. There is one line that I say that goes, “but I must also feel it as a man,” and it is lines like that which I can get stuck in my head about. It has certainly been quite the challenge, but it has also been immensely helpful in discovering new things about my character and the world of the play.
Her Campus: What is your favorite part of being in a production like Macbeth?
Madeleine: For starters, it is always a pleasure to get to speak Shakespeare. A couple of summers back I trained at Shakespeare and Company in Lenox, MA and became completely obsessed with shakespearean text. Aside from that, there is an inherent epic-ness in a show like Macbeth that has only been emphasized more by our creative team. It is exhilarating to be a part of something so big and awesome- from applying all of my scars after getting into costume to stepping onto a stage that is filled with eerie haze- and that only helps me find the energy to match all the other elements of the production.