Ask most students to describe the Shakespearean style, and they will probably recite words such as "soliloquy," "tragedy" or "iambic pentameter."
Lecturing fellow Jay O'Berski, however, is unlikely to have any of these traits in mind.
When a member of the Duke student-run Wendell Theatre Group asked O'Berski to direct a Shakespearean comedy, he proposed an alternative idea-an unusual comedic version of the tragedy "Macbeth."
The group of students and alumni will make his vision a reality when 13 actors and three musicians stage "Macbeth" in the Sarah P. Duke Gardens on the last two weekends in June.
But in place of Shakespeare's traditional Old English verse, the show will feature another medieval art form-the clown.
"I had never liked 'Macbeth'-it always seemed way too testosterone-driven, and yet the main character seemed to be a weakling," O'Berski said. "I started to think of it in terms of a show of red noses and balloon swords and ridiculous gags."
O'Berski has worked with the performers to create a new language he calls "clown speak." In place of dialogue, the actors will make zany clown-like noises, occasionally uttering random words from the original text that they found humorous.
For example, the actors may exclaim "puckle"-a term for demon-or "Sweno"-the name of the King of Norway in the original play.
"We're trying to boil it down to the essence of the story," O'Berski said. "We read a scene and then we try to figure out what would be the most ridiculous thing that would tell the story."
A musical score composed by Adam Sampieri, Trinity '03, will accompany the entire performance.
Although the accompaniment will include traditional instruments like the guitar and the clarinet, it will also feature several more eccentric elements. A professional musician will play a saw with a bow, and each actor will play an instrument-ranging from the kazoo to the accordion-when not on stage.
O'Berski said he pictures characters donning red clown noses, spandex, goggles and combat boots to create what he described as "a cross between a modern dancer and a 'frog man.'"
Props will be created out of balloons, and O'Berski envisions the final act as a "bloody" battle of water balloons filled with fruit punch.
The group is still in the process of staging the show, however, so many of the play's elements, such as potential interaction between the actors and the audience, have yet to be established.
"We have to create as we go," O'Berski said. "Ideas come from mutations in rehearsal, so I try not to have too many at home that might not work when we actually get on our feet."'
He added that the traditional "European clowning method" has played a role in the rehearsal process.
"It's more naive and more like an actual person than a thing that you sort of sit and watch and laugh at," Matt Hooks, Trinity '06, said of the European version of a clown.
Hooks will be playing Macbeth's shadow, a role that does not exist in the actual text.
"[The European clown] is a little more holistic and it comes out of the person who you are," he added.
In this framework, the actors spent two days creating "signature clown" identities based on their own personalities.
"If you took all of your own traits as a person and pushed them to the limit, that's what the clowns are like," said Artistic Director Danny Bischoff, a senior who will portray a witch. "They're like hyper-extended versions of yourself."
Out of these workshops, Macbeth emerged as a "cowardly rat" and Hooks will play a "samurai ninja" interpretation of the shadow, O'Berski said.
In addition, one important rule has been enforced during rehearsals.
"[The actors] are not allowed to speak English when they have their noses on," O'Berski explained. "That's an old clown tradition."
O'Berski said he found the most challenging aspect of directing the show to be translating the classic tragedy into comedic form, but the actors said they have enjoyed the process.
"It's been a very intense acting experience for me," Bischoff said. "It's kind of like letting go completely of sanity."
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