Hello everyone, and welcome back to the Crocodile Mystery for May. This month, take a moment to examine this image from a 19th century printed text of Macbeth published as a promptbook for performance. What is odd about the disposition of characters in the book’s suggestion for the play’s final staging? Lock in your guesses in the comments below. See you next week for the big reveal!
Where’s Lady MacBeth? Where’s Banquo?
Well, they’re not in the final scene because they’re dead, surely.
I’m curious about “Macbeth on the ground” instead of Macduff bringing in his head from offstage.
This isn’t about the final scene, it’s about the curtain call (unless I’m sorely mistaken). MacBeth dead on the ground, not taking a bow, would be unusual but edgy. The absence of at least two of the major characters? In any case, I’m all anticipation for the reveal.
‘Duff left him head and with his head,
He came galumphing back.
Well, prompt and off- prompt are correctly identified as RH and LH as seen from the stage so presumably it isn’t that.
No stage exit to the courtyard of Dunsinane?