The idea of the egg for Macbeth for this year's Iris Theatre summer season came from the theme of childlessness in the play. An egg is a universal symbol of fertility, so I went for an empty egg, lit from behind in order to give a reddish womb-like glow. The crown in the egg hints at the obsession the central character has with his lack of an heir for his throne. Dan Winder, artistic director of Iris Theatre, also liked the idea of rituals, symmetry and circles - having the egg very symmetrical and neatly cut is somehow a bit creepy, and reminiscent of the witches' spells and rituals.
It turns out it's pretty difficult to cut an egg in half lengthways - the shells are very strong, and they prefer to be broken in half horizontally! We cut the egg using a tiny circular saw (in case you were wondering, sawing an egg shell makes the whole room smell of rotten egg), then lit the egg using a torch in a dark room, shining the light through the shell, rather than at the egg from above, which is what gave the red, womb-like interior.