Rojo and Schneckner's MAKBETH

MAKBETH, freely adapted from Shakespeare's play by The Performance Group, directed by Richard Schechner at the Performing Garage in NYC, 1971. The audience entered the theatre from the second floor and descended a spiral stairway. The performers and spectators used vertical ladders to move from one level to another. Black seating pads were placed throughout the playing areas to designate audience seating. The designer's concept for clothes centered on the image of a "jumpsuit" which provided a practical garment for the highly physical acting performance of the production. Velvet fabric and colors helped to designated the family groups of characters in the play's story. After a limited run of the production, the theatre, with the environment totally intact, became a popular venue for various theatre groups who rented the space from the Performance Group for a year. As a result, the designer was invited to develop, now, so called, environmental theatres for other institutions such as Sara Lawrence College and the University of Connecticut