Alarum within. Enter King, Malcolm, Donalbain, Lennox, with attendants, meeting a bleeding Captain
KING What bloody man is that? He can report
As seemeth by his plight, of the revolt
The newest state.
MALCOLM This is the sergeant
Who, like a good and hardy soldier, fought
’Gainst my captivity. Hail, brave friend!
Say to the King the knowledge of the broil
As thou didst leave it. (1.2.1-7)
Not a flourish, not a sennet—both of which could be glossed as fanfares, ceremonial, announcing a dignitary—but rather alarum within, just offstage, the trumpet call that signals danger, perhaps very imminent danger. The battle’s still going on, just out of sight, and the king (who must be recognisable by a crown, as well as by the fact that he is so well attended) is not directly involved (he may have a long white beard suggesting his age, that he’s too old to be on the field himself) but desperately seeking an update: how is it going? What’s the latest news of the revolt? This isn’t a foreign enemy (and, given that this is a—the—Scottish play, it’s therefore not England that the King’s army is fighting) but rather a revolt, a rebellion, an attempted coup, perhaps sudden and so especially dangerous and unpredictable. But suddenly, by chance, there’s the possibility of news: here’s an officer, not just one of the men, a bleeding Captain. So there’ll be some visible sign of his rank; perhaps a gorget, throat armour, in early modern costume, most likely a silk scarf tied as a sash across his chest or around his waist; the requisite number of stripes, the right sort of cap in modern dress. He is bloody, bleeding: on the early modern stage this almost certainly doesn’t mean that he’s saturated in blood (because outer garments generally aren’t washable; shirts are). He could be stripped to his shirt, and that could be bloody. Unlikely, I think; doesn’t have the mid-battlefield vibe. He’ll almost certainly have blood on his face. He could be wearing some kind of pre-bloodied outer garment that’s more a prop than a costume: after all, he enters bleeding, it’s not happening in the sight of the audience. I think that’s the most likely. And although the Captain never gets a name, he’s immediately given an identity and a backstory of sorts, because he’s recognised by Malcolm, who may already himself be recognisable (from his clothes, or his proximity and behaviour towards the King) as a prince. I know this man, he says with excitement—he rescued me, prevented me from being taken prisoner! (A battle in which a prince narrowly escaped being captured: that sounds fraught, chaotic, like a coup indeed.) He’s a brave man, a good soldier; you can trust him. And to this anonymous, bleeding Captain: tell the King what was going on, where the battle was at, when you left the field. What’s the latest, so far as you know? This is an ongoing crisis.
