Second-year English and human rights student Sarah Haley is directing a production of Macbeth for Carleton’s Sock ‘n’ Buskin Theatre. With the play set to premiere on Nov. 24, The Charlatan sat down with her to learn all about it.
The Charlatan (TC): What attracted you to Macbeth?
Sarah Haley (SH): I really, really love Shakespeare, that’s one of my passions as an English student. When I was in 11th grade and I studied the play for the first time academically, I noticed a lot of the ways people interpreted the play were very misogynistic. People often viewed Macbeth as a tragic figure who was slighted by the woman who manipulated him into committing cruel deeds, and I was really not interested in that sort of concept. So it was from there that I started to develop my own views and just got really into the subject, and I realized it was something I’d really like to direct and put my own spin on.
TC: Did these views affect how you directed the play?
SH: Oh, very much. The aesthetic of the play is that it’s set in the 1950s, and the reason for that is I wanted to use a lens of female oppression and agency by putting it in that era. That’s an era that’s very well known for its rampant sexism, racism, and xenophobia. And so I was hoping by putting it into a different time period, it would help to show the way women were treated in the play and how they didn’t have the power and how they had to manipulate systems in order to do anything for themselves.
TC: What challenges did you run into along the way?
SH: The biggest challenge would probably be having faith in myself as a director. It’s my directorial debut, so a lot of things were new to me. I have a very large cast, and understanding how to work with them, how to make sure everyone understood what I was trying to achieve, and just making sure that I always knew what I was doing were definitely difficult. I doubted myself several times along the way, but I have a phenomenal cast who really helped me and supported me.
TC: Macbeth is something that’s been performed a lot and interpreted a number of different ways throughout history. Was that intimidating at all when you were trying to adapt it?
SH: It’s very intimidating, especially because it is so well known and there’s so many amazing performances that you see, and amazing adaptations that you can find at the click of a finger. You know, there’s always that self-doubt, like do I really have a place here? Am I really allowed to interpret this play this way? I know that Shakespeare’s writing always has a place in any form, whether it’s in school, or in a student theatre like this one. It’s a good vehicle to reinterpret to get points across, because it’s so changeable in the sense that it has set lines and plot, but it can be adapted to any situation and can be used to send out any message you want.
TC: What can we expect to see in the play?
SH: There’s really cool costumes. I have a great costume team, so that’s really exciting. People are working really hard on all different aspects. The sets are going to be phenomenal. We actually went out by the Arboretum and picked up a bunch of sticks as a cast bonding activity and brought them back so we could make a forest for our set. It’s going to be very visually stunning, very suspenseful, and very dark, but that’s Macbeth.
TC: Have any fun behind-the-scenes stories you’d like to share?
SH: One thing that was really great was our first cast bonding experience. I decided to do it a little differently than we normally would, since we have such a large cast, and there’s a lot of new people in the cast, especially first-years or people in their last years who have never done theatre. I wanted to do a cast bonding event that would force people to come together but also allow them to have an enjoyable time. Because it’s set in the 1950s, there’s going to be one part where everyone has to dance. And that dancing is swing dancing. So I took a bunch of people who are very uncomfortable about the idea of having to dance, I made them go swing dancing together, and it turned out to be a really, really great experience.
TC: Sum up your Sock ‘n’ Buskin experience for me.
SH: I had never really done theatre in my life, which is a surprise to some people given the position I’m in right now. When I came to Carleton last year, I wanted to do something like theatre because I figured it was something I’d really like. So, the night before an audition, that’s when I discovered auditions were taking place and I asked to audition, and they let me. Being a terrified first-year student in September who didn’t even realize the auditions were taking place, I went in there and ran through a monologue and a song. Then I got a phone call and they were like, “We’re sorry but we don’t see a spot for you in the show.” I was like, “Yep, fair enough. That makes sense.” I wasn’t deterred, and so when the next auditions came around, I was actually prepared, and I knew what I was supposed to do. I was cast in The Crucible, which was a phenomenal experience. I did another show that year as well: Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead. As soon as I joined the theatre community, I was amazed because everyone is so interesting and so nice.
TC: What would be your dream production? You’ve got an unlimited budget, you can cast anyone you want, what would it be?
SH: Honestly, this is my dream production. Everything that I’ve thought of, it’s coming into being. My cast is phenomenal, it’s everything I wanted. I’m amazed it’s happening, and it’s happening in a couple weeks. I can’t think of a better answer then just—this is it.
This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
