“It’s a pretty slanted stage, so I think a big part of the directing was playing with levels and getting the actors comfortable in that space ,” Piazza said. To emphasize the characters, especially Macbeth, spiraling out of control, the set designers built a rake stage so that the actors could always be on their toes, ready to “literally be spiraling” down the slope, according to Piazza and Alex Ross. with Dylan there too, as someone who is one of my best friends we to really get into it and have a good time,” Alex Ross said. “I’ve never done a stage combat sequence like that before because it is quite long and complicated, but it was super fulfilling to get right. Both actors found working with fight choreographer Cassie Chapados and each other very enjoyable. I think that idea is strengthened by our adaptation of the show,” Trethaway said, who plays Lady Macbeth.Ī prominent scene in the play is the combat sequence between Alex Ross, who plays Macbeth, and senior Dylan O’Toole, who plays Macduff. “ needs to use her words, her femininity, and her intelligence to get what she wants. They also decided to merge the three witches with Lady Macbeth, Fleance and Malcolm so that they manipulate the men undercover, leading them on to their own destruction in order to gain power for themselves. To portray that theme, WATA had to cut and rearrange scenes that pulled the focus away from the witches. “In our adaptation, we bring the witches to the forefront and really give them not just the nudge that pushes Macbeth into madness but really puts the power back into their hands,” Sulka said. Specifically, they drew inspiration from the feminine aura depicted through the three witches and Lady Macbeth. The students also felt compelled to explore different aspects of the play that were not originally intended to be the focal point. We spent a lot of time dissecting the language and fully understanding it first to be able to authentically portray it,” Piazza said. “Diction and language were much bigger in this play than any other play that we’ve done in the past. “When picking Macbeth I was thinking about the actors I had in the room but also how I was going to push them.”īefore they even began the production process, the students spent a whole month analyzing the original script in order to gain a better understanding of the language and characters, according to Assistant Director and senior Avery Piazza. “The students think that is a different type of English or that the poetry is too affluent or strict I actually think that when you follow the structure of it there is a lot of freedom,” Sulka said. WATA Director and Theater Arts teacher Maggie Sulka purposefully chose this project in order to free her students of their previous reservations and challenge them with something entirely new. What makes these accomplishments even more impressive is the fact that the Playlab Honors students, who make up most of the cast and crew, have never worked on Shakespeare in theater before. WATA also took home an impressive number of Individual All-Star awards, including two Best Actor Awards for senior Alex Ross and junior Lauren Trethaway’s performances, one Best Set Award, one Best Lighting Award and a Best Stage Management Award. In addition to that, thirty-eight other schools have been chosen from the various other sites. WATA was one of the three winners at this site, alongside Saugus High School and Framingham High School. WATA’s version of the play, Weird Sisters & the Tragedy of Macbeth, has already qualified for the regional round of the competition after being performed in the preliminary round on Saturday, March 19 at the Framingham High School. This year, with another METG award at stake, WATA students are performing one of the most difficult plays to interpret and produce, especially at a high school level: “Macbeth” by William Shakespeare. Over the years, WATA has accumulated eight Massachusetts Educational Theater Guild (METG) state final awards, all of which have elevated its reputation as one of the most prestigious theater programs in the state. The Westford Academy Theater Arts (WATA) program is notorious for its visually striking and emotional performances.
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