Goold, Where is Macbeth?

     "So fair and foul a day I have not seen."
     Great, Macbeth. It's nice to see that the day confuses you, too. Do you have any idea what time period you're currently in? I thought I did but . . . there are some things that really just don't add up and, honestly, it is quite distracting to the story. The characters wear clothes that could be from WW1 or WW2 and the battle images look like they are from that time period, as well; but then some of the weapons and costumes are much more advanced and, as we talked about in class, there seems to be a bit of Stalin and Russian influence after Macbeth rises to power. Add in that everyone speaks Elizabethan English and, well, it can be rather off putting. I know I spent most of the film trying to figure out where we were in time, anyway.
     That being said, the story still stood out exactly as Shakespeare wrote it. It may have seemed a little strange to hear 1920s/40s/60s military circles speaking language from the 1600s, but at the same time this speech helped establish that true Shakespearean influence. His plays still speak to us today, not because the language is the most current thing in popular culture, but because his characters are still identifiable. We all know people who are power hungry or crazy or maybe a bit of both, and we all make bad decisions and listen to some people we shouldn't, just like Macbeth.
     In the end, one can wonder at where Goold really planned his Macbeth, but it doesn't matter too much. At its heart, the story is still the one told by Shakespeare, and it doesn't really matter where you put the story or how you portray the characters--it's still the same story and Macbeth is still Macbeth.