Year 9 Objectives: Drama Pupils should be taught to: 11. recognise, evaluate and extend the skills and techniques they have developed through drama; 12. use a range of drama techniques, including work in role, to explore issues, ideas and meanings, e.g. by playing out hypotheses, by changing perspectives; 13. develop and compare different interpretations of scenes or plays by Shakespeare or other dramatists; 14. convey action, character, atmosphere and tension when scripting and performing plays; 15. write critical evaluations of performances they have seen or in which they have participated, identifying the contributions of the writer, director and actors. Aims: To engage with the play as a play rather than as written text To consider multiple interpretations of the play To explore character motivation and interaction Thematic ideas: Characters speak from their thoughts, feelings and circumstances. Different character intention would lead to different ways of performing a scene. Characters don t come in as a clean slate, they respond to how other characters are speaking/feeling as well as what they say. Process: A number of drama classes are run around the above themes. They covered: Aspects of the particular play, major themes and ideas. Character intention: students improvised around the way in which having different thoughts and feelings changes the way we speak. They used duplicate actors to identify thoughts during the process of acting a scene. Character interaction: students improvised responding with the same script to different approaches. Case Study 2 Drama, Macbeth, Clapton School: Groups of students were asked to design a web page that included video. They were to consider not only performing the scene, but also to find ways of incorporating the characters thoughts. Groups dealt with this differently. One group produced five videos two containing the thoughts of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth before the scene, one central video was the scene itself, and the final two contained the character's thoughts after the scene. Another group split their scene up into three parts, giving a different interpretation to each part, and adding words onto the webpage describing the differences.
Studying Shakespeare provides an ideal opportunity to integrate word and sentence level work with text level work. As long as the children get to learn the plot of the story, they won t be daunted by the language. Many primary children love the story of Macbeth, with its plot, witches, spells, murder, dilemmas etc. Allow the children to investigate the progression of the plot. Its magical content could inspire the children s enjoyment, with the possibility of bringing up questions on morality. Encourage the children to explore the characters. Looking at their separate personalities and emotions. Examining the characters and their actions also enables the children to form a kind of relationship with them and allows them to establish their own opinions of the characters. Macbeth was written to be performed. Encourage the children to relish the sounds, to say them out loud, and not to worry about understanding every word. Shakespeare s language was written for the theatre. The best way to bring it alive is to say it aloud. Get the children to share the reading of a passage from Macbeth. Ask them to take it in turns to read a line at a time, two lines at a time, to read it stopping as soon as they get to some punctuation. Encourage the children to practise reading them aloud, emphasising the rhythm and adding movements and actions to accompany the line. Get them to walk around the room saying their line aloud as they pass someone then make up lines of their own iambic pentameter (de dum de dum de dum de dum de dum). Lesson ideas drama and literacy using extracts from Macbeth Introduce the story of Macbeth and read summary. Read out extracts. Explain meaning and importance in the play. Extract 1 Act 1 Scene 1 The first few lines of the play. It introduces the three witches, who talk about the war. Extract 1 1 Witch When shall we three meet again? In thunder, lightning, or in rain? 2 Witch When the hurlyburly s done, When the battle s lost and won. Hurlyburly uproar Extract 2 Act 2 Scene 1 Before Macbeth kills Duncan he imagines that he sees a dagger. He is starting to feel his dilemma and guilt. Extract 2 Macbeth Is this a dagger, which I see before me, The handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee: I have thee not, and yet I see thee still. Art thou not, fatal vision, sensible To feeling, as to sight? Or art thou but A dagger of the mind, a false creation
Art are Thou you Extract 3 Act 2 Scene 2 Immediately after Macbeth kills Duncan, he tells Lady Macbeth that he has done the deed. He is in a state of shock and she implores him to pull himself together and put the daggers near the guards to make it look like they are guilty. Extract 3 Lady Macbeth Who was it that thus cried? Why, worthy Thane, You do unbend your noble strength, to think So brainsickly of things. Go, get some water, And wash this filthy witness from your hand. Why did you bring these daggers from the place? They must lie there: go, carry them, and smear The sleepy grooms with blood. Thane Lord Witness evidence Brainsickly weak Extract 4 Act 3 Scene 4 After Macbeth has killed Duncan he becomes the king. He later orders that Banquo and Fleance (his son) be killed. Banquo is killed but Fleance escapes. At a banquet, later that evening Macbeth imagines he sees Banquo s ghost. He is obviously desperately frightened and upset. Extract 4 Macbeth Pr ythee, see there! Behold! Look! Lo! How say you? Why, what care I? If thou canst nod, speak too. If charnel houses and our graves must send Those that we bury, back, our monuments Pr ythee look Canst can Charnel funeral Monuments trophy Then I ll sit down. Give me some wine: fill full: I drink to th general joy o th whole table And to our dear friend Banquo, whom we miss Avaunt! And quit my sight! Let the earth hide thee! Thy bones are marrowless, thy blood is cold; Thou hast no speculation in those eyes Th the O th of the Avaunt Go away Hast has
Extract 5 Act 4 Scene 1 The witches chant their spell around the cauldron just before Macbeth visits them to find out more information about his future. Extract 5 2 Witch Double, double toil and trouble: Fire, burn; and cauldron bubble. Fillet of a fenny snake, In the cauldron boil and bake; Eye of newt, and toe of frog, Wool of bat, and tongue of dog, Adder s fork, and blind worm s sting, Lizard s leg, and howlet s wing, For a charm of powerful trouble, Like a hell broth boil and bubble. Fenny from the fens Broth soup Ideas for lessons based on the extracts 1 Write up the words (in italics) from the text on cards and the modern day equivalent on other cards. Place the words in the centre of the room and get each person to take a card. Ask the children to think about what the words mean. Get them to try and match up there words, original text and modern equivalent. Look at the words and discuss. Present the word as a still image, show to others and try and guess the word. 2 In groups give them one of the extracts, or just two lines from the extracts. Discuss with the children about the meaning of the lines. Ask them to create 2 still images for their lines paying particular attention to the last word on each line. Think about a rhythm for their lines and how they want to say it. Find a way of saying their lines and moving from image to image that they can share. Present the lines and actions in sequence. 3 Look at extract 4 Banquo s ghost. Get the class to sit in a large circle and to pretend they are at Macbeth s banquet. The teacher or one child moves around them pretending to be Banquo s ghost. Tell the children that they could not see Banquo s ghost until they are tapped on the shoulder.
They then have to pretend they could see Banquo s ghost Get them to express their reaction through their body language,facial gesture and maybe extend into speech. 4 Look at extract 5 the witches spell. Find three sets of rhyming words. Write down any more words that rhyme with these. List the different animals the witches use in their spell, and try to think of words which rhyme with them. Write their own witches spell, try and get it to rhyme. Get the children to decide on what the potion will do; will it be harmful or good, will it make others rich or poor, fall in love or down a pothole? Think of words that suggest cooking sounds, remember boil and bubble. Make a rhyming or rhythmic chant which can be repeated. It doesn t have to make sense as long as it sounds spooky! You could pretend to mix the spell in a cauldron using a mixture of vinegar and baking soda which results in a bubbling magic spell. Are they ready to cast their spell! ^ top of page Lesson ideas literacy and drama Insults swap some Shakespearian insults. Try some of the following, you jackanapes with scarves; you base foot ball player; you plaguey caterpillars; thou drone; thou snail; thou slug; thou sot; thou bolting hutch of beastliness; capon; coxcomb; mad mustachio purple hued malt worms. Idioms look up Shakespeare in a dictionary of quotations. Make a collection of idioms which originated in his plays. For example, foregone conclusion; more in sorrow than in anger; a tower of strength; to the manor born; to be cruel to be kind; nearest and dearest; eating me out of house and home etc. Language changes investigate changes in usage and meaning over time. For example, Shakespeare uses both comes and cometh, although the old one was going out of use when he was writing. Investigate the meaning of the following, ye/you; silly; nice; presently; without. Changed spellings look at spellings, for instance, why is the e missing in roof d; grac d; reserv d? The clue is pronunciation and the rhythm of iambic pentameter the e would add another syllable. Translation have a go at translating short passages into modern English. Look at the abbreviations, e.g. in Macbeth s banquet scene, please't your Highness ; thou cans t not say ; pr ythee ; and the word order, How say you/ Why, what care I? Sayings and quotes as well as sounding wonderful, Shakespeare s words have had a huge influence on the history of the English language. Children could be surprised to discover how much of Shakespeare s language has become part of everyday sayings and how many quotes they recognise already. For example, is this a dagger ; to be or not to be ; all the world s a stage ; tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow.
Poetic effects Shakespeare s language provides an ideal vehicle for looking at specific poetic effects. Investigate some of his use of metaphors and similes; 'as rheumatic as two dry toasts';' life is an unweeded garden' etc. Puns Mercutio s final words in Romeo and Juliet, ask for me tomorrow and you shall find a grave man. Onomatopoeia and alliteration read the opening scene on the heath from Macbeth. Diary writing write a diary extract, imaging that they are either Macbeth or Lady Macbeth. Take it from a significant part of the play e.g. after Macbeth has just seen the dagger; after he has killed Duncan; after Lady Macbeth has replaced the daggers etc. Encourage the class to consider how Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are feeling, how guilty / strong / devastated / confused they feel. Letter writing imaging that they are Macbeth writing to Lady Macbeth about the witches prophecies. What would he say to her? Would he ask for advice? Letter writing get the class to read the letter below from Macbeth to Lady Macbeth and get them to answer it as if they are Lady Macbeth. My Dear Lady This afternoon I met three witches. They told me that I would become King of Scotland. I would very much like to be the King and feel that I should now try to steal the throne. This thought troubles me. The only possible way I could become King is to take the throne off him. I could make war with him, but perhaps I could murder him? Why do the witches think that I should be King? I am confused and need your help my lady. What do you think I should do? Your loving husband Macbeth Plot Plot summary Act One Macbeth is loyal to King Duncan, and is a co General in his army. After meeting the three witches who prophesy that he will be king, Macbeth is no longer satisfied and hatches a plot, together with his wife, to murder the king under their own roof and frame the guards outside the king's bedroom for the murder. Act Two Macbeth, not totally comfortable with killing the king, is provoked into doing so by Lady Macbeth. Macbeth kills Duncan with his wife's help, but he is haunted with guilt. Act Three Macbeth then immediately kills the accused guards so that he can cover his tracks. Duncan's sons, Malcolm and Donalbain, disappear from Macbeth's castle in fear for their lives, suspected of bribing the guards to kill their own father. Macbeth becomes king. In order to ensure the throne for his descendants he must now also murder Banquo, the other army General, as well as Banquo's son, because the witches told Macbeth that Banquo's descendants would be the next in line after Macbeth. Macbeth s plan to kill Banquo and his son is foiled when Banquo's son flees. Banquo shortly afterwards is murdered on his way to a banquet at Macbeth's palace. Macbeth is haunted by the ghost of Banquo and in the middle of the banquet, sees his ghost, and
makes a scene in front of the Scottish lords. This outburst makes the lords suspect Macbeth's guilt, despite Lady Macbeth s attempts to dismiss the affair as Macbeth suffering from an illness. Act Four Macduff, a Scottish noble, suspecting Macbeth to be the murderer organises help from England to reclaim the throne. Macbeth visits the witches to learn of his fate. They warn him about Macduff; that he will not be defeated until Birnam wood moves to Dunsinane; and that Macduff will not be killed by someone born of a woman. Macbeth believes this means he is infallible. Macduff joins with Malcolm, the rightful heir to the throne, to fight Macbeth. Macbeth discovers Macduff's plan and sends assassins to Macduff's home to kill his wife and children. Macduff hears of this and is now more determined to kill Macbeth. Act Five With an army of 10,000 they fight Macbeth. Macbeth is unafraid until he hears the army have camouflaged themselves with wood from the Birnam forest and are moving toward Dunsinane. Macbeth comes face to face with Macduff and learns that he was born by caesarean section and was, thus, never literally born of woman. Macduff kills Macbeth and Malcolm becomes king. Character Files The Characters Duncan Malcolm Donalbain Macbeth Lady Macbeth Banquo Fleance Macduff Hecate Gentlewoman Lennox, Ross, Menteith, Angus, and Caithness Boy Lady Macduff Siward Young Siward Seyton The Weird Sisters Apparitions King of Scotland Duncan s elder son Duncan s younger son Thane of Glamis and later King of Scotland Macbeth s wife and later Queen of Scotland Friend of Macbeth and General to Duncan Banquo s son A Scottish lord who is loyal to Duncan Goddess of witchcraft She takes care of Lady Macbeth Noblemen Son to Macduff Macduff s wife The Earl of Northumberland and General of the English forces Siward s son Officer, who takes care of Macbeth Three witches Ghosts or spirits The main Characters: Macbeth
In the beginning of the play, he is a nobleman and Scottish general in King Duncan s army. Later, Macbeth becomes the Thane of Glamis and Cawdor and King of Scotland. He is easily persuaded, brave, good hearted and ambitious. His tragic flaw is his ambition. In the end, it is his bravery and ambition that get him killed. Lady Macbeth Lady Macbeth knows that her husband loves her and will do anything for her. She persuades him to murder King Duncan. Her ambition, unlike Macbeth s, is without morals. As the play progresses their love for one another dwindles. Banquo Banquo is Macbeth s friend. Macbeth has him killed, because he fears the prophesy of the witches, that Banquo s ancestors will rule Scotland. Donaldbain Donaldbain is King Duncan s younger son and brother to Malcolm. He does not speak in the play. He fears for his life and his future and suggest to his brother that they leave Scotland after the death of their father, the king. Malcolm Malcolm is King Duncan s elder son and brother to Donaldbain. Duncan announces Malcolm as the next in line to be King of Scotland. He flees to England, afraid, after his father is murdered by Macbeth. He believes in fighting for just causes and leads his army against Macbeth and kills him. Duncan Duncan is the King of Scotland. He is good and popular. He has two sons, Malcolm and Donaldbain. Duncan is also a good and loyal friend to Macbeth and Lady Macbeth and is murdered by them. Lennox Lennox is a nobleman and a friend of Macbeth. On the night of Duncan s death hears a lot of noise but is unable to connect Duncan s murder to Macbeth. Macduff It is clear from the beginning he does not like Macbeth. He leaves Scotland because of Macbeth and loses his family to Macbeth. He raises an army against Macbeth in order to avenge his family s death. Ross A hypocrite. He tells Lady Macduff that Macbeth s tyranny will not last forever. When he leaves, he is the one to signal to the murderers to kill everyone in the Macduff house. The Three Murderers At first it seems there are two murderers. At the last minute, Macbeth sends a third murderer whose identity no one knows. This may mean that Macbeth is disguised as the third murderer. Background Background a play fit for a king Macbeth was written for, and to please, King James I. During this period Scotland had a witch craze, with many people being convicted without any evidence. James I, who believed the witch hysteria, wrote a book called 'Demonology' about the supposed hidden world of wicked witches. It is thought that James I would have much in common with the play and would have seen himself involved in the action. In rewriting the historical facts, Shakespeare made a number of changes to favour James I. In the true story Banquo joined Macbeth in the killing of Duncan; it would have been political suicide to suggest that the king had descended from someone who had committed regicide (Banquo, ancestor and the
murderer of a king). In writing Macbeth, Shakespeare did not create a true history, or simply an entertainment to flatter the king, but a moral play. In murdering the king, Macbeth commits a crime not only of State but of the gods who it was believed appointed kings to rule for them on earth. We see the effects of uncontrolled ambition on an otherwise noble human being. History handed down the Holinshed Chronicles Shakespeare s source for Macbeth was the Raphael Holinshed's Chronicles (1577). By the time the story of Macbeth had reached Holinshed, it was already mostly fiction. Holinshed's section on Macbeth was largely based on the work of Hector Boece, Scotorum Historiae ( Chronicles of Scotland, 1526 7). It appears that Boece s sources also include Chronica gentis Scotorum ( Scotichronicon ) by John of Fordun in the early 1500's (who also recalls William Braveheart Wallace and Robin Hood). Holinshed, it seems, concentrated on the incident in which Malcolm, who became a popular king, tests Macduff by pretending to be mean. Holinshed talks about the murder of King Duff by Donwald in the century before Macbeth. According to Holinshed, Donwald was persuaded by his wife until he did the evil deed. Shakespeare adapted this for Macbeth. According to the Holinshed's Chronicles, Macbeth became king of Scotland in 1040. He was king for around 17 years before Malcolm, Duncan s son, killed him. Although Shakespeare based his play on the sources available to him at the time he managed to compress events and shape and modify what he learned. The play is mainly concerned with the theme of fate and the exploration of free will, set in a place beyond time and place, where the present and future collide, full of magic and madness. Themes. Ambition. Power, Fate and Free Will. Nature and the Unnatural. Paradox. Witches and Magic. Blood. Masks. Hands. Sight, Light, Darkness and Blindness. Manhood. Babies and Children. Sleep. Birds. Kingship. Heaven and Hell. Good and Evil. Power. Appearance and Reality. Politics. The Supernatural. Physical and Mental Illness
Nature and the Unnatural In Macbeth the word 'nature' usually refers to human nature. Macbeth does act in an unnatural way by killing his king, his friend, a woman and her children. Finally he is destroyed when nature itself has to fight a man 'not of worman born'. Paradox In Macbeth there are many paradoxes throughout the play, fair appearances hide foul realities. For the three witches what is ugly is beautiful, and what is beautiful is ugly: Fair is foul and foul is fair. The first thing in the play that Macbeth says is, So foul and fair a day I have not seen. Witches and Magic Not all of Shakespeare s characters are human, many are spirits e.g. Arial in The Tempest, the ghost of Hamlet s father and in Macbeth we have the witches. These three weird witches stir Macbeth into becoming king: Witch 1: All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, Thane of Glamis! Witch 2: All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor! Witch 3: All hail, Macbeth! that shall be King hereafter. (1.3) As a result of this, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth decide that the crown is for the taking and are stimulated into action. Do the witches have some insight into the future, are they predicting it or do they directly shape it? Without the intervention of the witches would Macbeth have considered becoming king? Blood There are many references to blood throughout Macbeth: Make thick my blood; Stop up the access and passage to remorse And on thy blade and dudgeon, gouts of blood, Which was not so before. There s no such thing. It is the bloody business which informs Thus to mine eyes. I am in blood/ Stepped in so far, that should I wade no more,/ Returning were as tedious as go o er. Masks Look like the time; bear welcome in your eye, Your hand, your tongue: like th' innocent flower, But be the serpent under 't. (1.5) Lady Macbeth talks to Macbeth, giving him specific instructions to wear an emotional mask so that he will not be suspected of ill deeds. Throughout the play, many characters put on metaphorical masks to hide their true nature, thoughts, or feelings. Banquo puts on a mask. He s virtually sure Macbeth is the murderer, but he hides his suspicions as he talks to Macbeth. (3.1) Hands All aspects of the word hand are used as symbols. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth both have scenes in which they are engrossed by the sight of blood on their hands. Sight, Light, Darkness, and Blindness Much of Macbeth takes place in the dark, and both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth believe that the dark can hide their crimes. This play is filled with the struggle between light and darkness. Macbeth asks for darkness to hide his desires in Act I, and then darkness shrouds the night of the murder. Macduff the hero of the play is the light that is brought to the final climactic battle with the dark Macbeth. The theme of light versus dark is the epic battle of good versus evil. Manhood The play asks what it means to be a man;
Come, you spirits / That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here, says Lady Macbeth (1.5). Does she desire to become a man? Why? What does Lady Macbeth mean in being a man? To help convince Macbeth not to pull out of the murder, Lady Macbeth questions his manhood; When you durst do it, then you were a man; / And to be more than what you were, you would / Be so much more the man At the end of the play a more sensitive aspect of manhood is portrayed Macduff at the end of Act 4. While Malcolm implores him to dispute it like a man, Macduff says that he must also feel it as a man, which changes the image of a man previously defined by Lady Macbeth. Less cruel and removed, Macduff shows that a man is cruel and cold when he needs to be, but feels just as intensely as he acts. Babies and children Uncommon to his work, Shakespeare makes references to babies and children in Macbeth. Sleep We often say that we need to sleep on a problem, Macbeth murders sleep. Birds There are a number of references to birds in the play, most of them of ill repute. Kingship Duncan is true king, compassionate and considerate; Macbeth is a tyrant, Heaven and Hell For Macbeth both of these seem close to his soul. Tasks 1. Many of the above themes are present in TV soap operas such as Eastenders, Coronation Street and Brookside and TV Dramas. How are these themes presented on TV? 2.Taking a theme such as ambition work on a short piece of drama to illustrate how is could be treated in a TV soap or Drama. 3. Research political assassinations in history e.g. JF Kennedy, Martin Luther King. 4. Make a presentation to your group on one of the themes of the play. You can make the theme relevant to today. Set Design David Farley is the set designer for Macbeth. In December 2002 he presented his design to the Production Department at Sheffield Theatres. The production has been designed to play in the Crucible Theatre Studio, Sheffield. Click here to see a Studio Ground plan In designing the set, David has tried to create a non specific environment for the play to take place within, but one which evokes a feel of history and levels of depth. This is also a place where children can play adults and adults play children, a place of 'make believe'. The door on wheels is the important part, which the adaptation uses as a practical and metaphorical threshold, a point of no return. The door also facilitates the quick changes of scenes and the change of dynamics of the space. In approaching a design, theatre designers often draw inspiration from other visual sources. David has used ideas from the following images by Louise Bourgeois:
David: Louise (Bourgeois)... her work is all about her childhood, which was pretty rough. In her work, she focuses on particular things, objects that have haunting associations with other things that happened to her. But I just like the feel of her work, the random detail. David then produced a card model from his initial ideas. This first model is a useful tool in the discussions between director and designer. The model is produced to scale (1:25) and it is possible for the director to see if it provides the right setting for the production.
The idea will be then developed further by the designer into a finished model. The final model will be to scale and painted as the finished set. The model alongside technical drawings will be the major communication tool for the carpenters, prop makers, scenic artists, and stage management during the rehearsal and production period. It also is a useful tool in describing to the actors what the final set will look like and where entrances and exits will be. Photo of David Farley's set design model for Macbeth. David wanted to create one environment in which the play takes place. The floor suggests a hardwood parquet floor, worn in the middle and darker around the edge, focusing on the playing area. At the back he has created a screen of doors of various heights and widths. On stage is a battered, aged door on wheels. This door however can be played with and moved around by the actors to create rapid scene changes. Click here to see plan of door David: The idea for the houses came when I found the image, and James just loved it. Over the past 6 months we have been playing with this, filling them with helium to try and get them to float, burning them, and making whole images out of them. The key, I think, is the link with people, the domestic, and again the child like quality. The best way I can describe it is I ve tried to create the feeling you might get when you see a baby s bootie in the gutter, or a pile of rubbish, the innocence of childhood displaced. The lit paper lanterns, scattered around the floor can be used to help tell the story and reveal other props. David Farley will also design the properties for Macbeth. This will include the mask for Banquo s ghost. Following on with the concept of an Edwardian nursery, David has taken the initial idea for the design from porcelain doll s heads.
Director's Presentation Adapting Macbeth The following article has been written by James Phillips, the Director of Sheffield Theatres production of Macbeth. Macbeth is one of the great explorations of crime and punishment. It says that there are certain taboo lines which cannot be crossed without consequence, certain doors which cannot be gone through. One night Macbeth opens the door to his guest room and kills his King. Going through the door he steps into a different world, which wreaks its own vengeance, a wardrobe to a darker and more inescapable Narnia. I saw a tiny portion of a film once. A man was trapped in a small room. He was surrounded by reel to reel tape recorders, each playing back a recording of his own voice, saying things which seemed to incriminate him. That s an image of guilt: being trapped with the known memory of the things you have done which you wish could be undone. Macbeth is a story which exists in this world. Macbeth is a thriller of crime and punishment. In refining it down and making cuts in the play, we ve wanted to locate, preserve, and push the relentless, claustrophobic intimacy, the vaulting pace of the story. The cuts don t feel sacrilegious. I don t think Shakespeare would mind. We ve made them to bring us closer to the enduring miracle of the writing, the place where the play really can frighten us: our empathy for the killers, our understanding of the unimaginable, our fading side step into the consciousness of minds we never thought we d have the breadth of recognition to enter. Macbeth is about the power struggles which exist between genders, the grappling which goes on both above and below the level of sense. It s very human though, not at all the strange story of psychotic sexuality you sometimes see. How do women act upon men, and men upon women? Where does the power lie? Macbeth is the strongest of soldiers. But we find he s frightened of and destroys things without the capacity to physically harm him, things which we would think of as traditionally feminine or childlike. Pity imagined as a baby, his wife who he could break in half with his hands, children lost, children not yet born, Fleance, Lady Macduff and her children. In casting three women, and in our approach to the witches we ve tried to explore the idea of gender in the play, the power of its evocation of our childlike fears. And lifting us over the level of logic Macbeth allows us to imagine as intensely as we did when we were young and in the dark.
Lighting Macbeth James Phillips and Finbar Lynch in rehearsals In this section, Guy Hoare, the lighting Designer for Macbeth focuses on his initial thoughts for Act 1 Scene 7. Lighting Design is often one of the latest elements to be added to any production. Guy What do we know about this scene? We know it takes place at night and in a private space. We suspect it is inside, though it may not be. All this information may be relevant in shaping the lighting for the scene. It will certainly inform our choices about colour, tone and brightness, although no scene's lighting is conceived in isolation, but rather as part of the design of the whole piece. As the scene is a conspiratorial discussion, we will probably want to keep light focussed quite tightly on Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. The blocking (where the actors are positioned and move) will dictate how tight we can be. To heighten the ominous atmosphere we may consider casting their shadows on to the back wall to loom large behind them. We also know that by the end of the subsequent soliloquy Macbeth will be approaching the door ( see set design) and passing through it to murder Duncan. Do we start to emphasise the importance of the door yet, or leave it unlit? A lot will depend on where we place the door in this scene and whether it will move again before the murder. If Lady Macbeth has just entered through it, it must represent the door to where Duncan is dining and we probably don't want to emphasise it too much yet. The final look of the scene cannot be decided at this stage and indeed will probably not be decided until the last few days; but as the blocking and staging evolve in rehearsal, so will the lighting. Section to be updated by 30th January 2003 Costume The costumes for Sheffield Theatres production of 'Macbeth' have been designed by Sarah Cant. The following images reflect some of Sarah's source materials as inspiration for the costume drawings for Rebecca Johnson's costumes who plays Banquo/Lady Macduff.
The concept of the play being set in an Edwardian nursery has been followed by Sarah. She has taken the idea of 'dressing up' and created designs with lots of layers of clothing, allowing the actors to change on set and create a different dynamics in what they wear. As costume designer Sarah must create costume drawings,select samples of fabrics and colours which can be interpreted and made by the wardrobe department.
The women in the play need to be able to portray both male and female charaters. Sarah has created images which suggest an ephemeral look using chiffons and soft fabrics. She has added leather bodices and boots to suggest armour for when the women portray male characters. Sarah has maintained a military stype to Macbeth's costume. Unit 2: Macbeth by William Shakespeare Macbeth -- the wooden chest The teacher has placed several items (relevant to the text) in a chest. He asks the students to work in pairs. The items might include an imitation dagger, a candle, a branch, a crown, a mirror, etc. One of the pupils from each pair comes and collects one of the items from the chest, without the other seeing it, while the other pupil is given a piece of paper and a pen/pencil. The pupils sit with their backs to each other. The pupil with the object describes the item to their partner while the other person has to draw what they think is being described. To develop the drama, the teacher chooses a pupil to sit with the chest while the other pupils, in silence, bring their objects back to the chest, pass them to its owner and watch as that pupil places them into the chest. Ritual is used in this way to introduce the role of the owner of the chest. Guided tour: Setting a context The teacher asks the pupils to sit down in front of a white screen. On the screen is a projection of an illustration or photograph of Macbeth s castle. He asks them to identify what they see in the picture. Once they have described what they actually see, he asks them to interpret the picture. Who do they think might live there? Where is the castle? With the pupils in pairs, the teacher sets up a guided tour situation. For this activity, he explains that one of the pupils needs to imagine that they know the place well and, using the picture/map, are to take their partner on a guided tour of the castle, describing and commenting on some of the things that they can see around them. The other pupil, with eyes closed, is guided around, listening to the description and asking appropriate questions. After a few minutes the teacher asks the pupils to explain what they were shown as they made their way around the building. Introducing the text and developing the context The teacher sets the pupils off on the guided tour again, this time reversing the roles of the guide and guided pupils. He tells them that when he shouts, freeze, he wants them to stop exactly where they are, freeze and listen to what is said. As they begin the guided tour he introduces some appropriate music or sounds of a battle. The teacher stops them and reads from the text (displayed on the OHP). For brave Macbeth (well he deserves that name)... Role on the wall The teacher uses the role(s) on the wall convention here to explore the character of Macbeth. This is done by asking the pupils to identify what they know about him. He then transcribes the pupils ideas onto Post-its and places them on an outline drawing
of Macbeth. The teacher will refer back to this throughout the work on Macbeth. DRAMA -- WORKSHOP TRAINING MATERIALS Crown Copyright 2003 Key Stage 3 National Strategy 13 Introducing and investigating the script The teacher begins studying the text by using extracts from different parts of the text, enabling pupils to begin the critical analysis process that is essential when studying the text as a whole. These extracts can be used in several ways. They can be read to them as a class, mimed in groups with the pupils in role and/or action narrated with the whole group as spectators. The pupils investigate the scripts and search for clues about the characters, story and setting. Extracts: Act 1, Scene 3 Ross: The King hath happily receiv d, Macbeth,... For it is thine Act 1, Scene 5 Lady Macbeth: Glamis thou art, and Cawdor, and shalt be... Act 1, Scene 7 Macbeth: If it were done, when tis done, then twere well... Act 3, Scene 1 Banquo: Thou hast it now, King, Cawdor, Glamis, all... Act 4, Scene 3 (Name): Your castle is surprised: your wife, and babes Savagely slaughtered... Act 5, Scene 7 Macbeth: I will not yield To kiss the ground before young Malcolm s feet,... Exploring Macbeth s character Using the extracts, the teacher then asks the pupils, in groups, to explore the different views there are of Macbeth. Giving each group a different task he asks them to produce a still picture, which describes: Duncan s view of Macbeth; Lady Macbeth s view of Macbeth; Macbeth s view of Macbeth; Banquo s view of Macbeth; Macduff s view of Macbeth and so on... The teacher asks the rest of the class to read the image and try to describe the space between the characters. The pupils suggest various alternatives: (The space of... hatred, ambition, fear, loyalty, etc.). The teacher asks all the groups to hold their images of Macbeth and while they are doing so reads the following: Your face, my Thane, is as a book, where men May read strange matters: to beguile the time, Look like the time, bear welcome in your eye, Your hand, your tongue: look like the innocent flower, But be the serpent under t. Or Such welcome, and unwelcome things at once Tis hard to reconcile. Sculpting the themes The teacher divides the class into two and then into pairs. He gives the pairs in the first half of the class cards with single words on them -- Ambition, Honour, Heroism, Greed, Evil, etc. He gives the pairs in the other half of the class short extracts from the play. (Fair is Foul, Brave Macbeth, etc.) The teacher explains that they are to create stone sculptures, using themselves, which can be placed in Macbeth s castle. Each pair will place the single word in front of their sculpture or select a short phrase from the text to go in front of their sculpture. DRAMA -- WORKSHOP TRAINING MATERIALS Crown Copyright 2003 Key Stage 3 National Strategy 14 He then asks the first half of the class to position their sculptures in the room and sets up the guided tour situation again. The pupils guide their pairs around Macbeth s castle again but this time they are to look in more detail at the sculptures that they may have missed the first time. The expert will explain to the partner the significance of some of the characters. The teacher plays some appropriate music. He stops the pupils. This time the other half of the class set up their statues and the rest of the class begin the guided tour. Matching pairs
The teacher explains to the pupils that there has been a problem at the castle with the restoration of some of the statues and that the descriptions that go with them have got mixed up. He explains that they need to find a statue that their own plaque belongs to and swap them. When the pupils have matched their pairs he sets up all the statues and asks them to read the new lines while holding their images. Faults and strengths The following quotation is displayed on the OHP: Such welcome, and unwelcome things at once Tis hard to reconcile. The teacher also has the following (large) Venn diagram on display: Welcome Unwelcome (Strengths) (Faults) The teacher asks the pupils to place words that describe Macbeth s welcome side (strengths) and words that describe his unwelcome side (faults). Pupils are then asked to consider which characteristics are both strengths and faults (ambition, being a good soldier, etc.) that could be placed in the overlapping section. The teacher might bring in the idea of a tragic hero at this stage. Crimewatch -- Scotland The teacher explains to the group that he is going to be in role as the TV producer of the programme Crimewatch -- Scotland. The only information the police have so far sent to the producer is a fax (containing the original story -- Holinshed) and a number of items found in the castle, the scene of some of the crimes. Seven or eight pupils are given small extracts from the play and some of the relevant items taken from Macbeth s chest (see earlier). They are asked to take on the role of the police who want these crimes to appear on Crimewatch. The rest of the pupils are researchers and writers for the programme. The producer outlines the information about the crimes in the form of reports, letters, statements, etc. and explains to the researchers that although he has only just been contacted by the police, he would like the story to appear on the programme that evening. The producer also explains that they need some good photographs, to show as backdrops to the story or to help with the re-enactment and/or some relevant artefacts. The researchers are sent under a strict time limit (the deadline for beginning production is very soon) to discover what they can from the police. DRAMA -- WORKSHOP TRAINING MATERIALS Crown Copyright 2003 Key Stage 3 National Strategy 15 A production meeting is then held to pull together the findings. The pupils being interviewed are asked by the teacher how they felt about being interviewed and whether the crimes remained as they had told them to the researchers. The production meeting needs to arrive at a title/headline for this section of the programme to be shown on the backdrop at the time of broadcast. Sculpting the characters The teacher uses the extract Act 2, Scene 2 I have done the deed -- and ending at, These deeds must not be thought After these ways: so, it will make us mad. The teacher chooses one of the pupils to be Macbeth and another Lady Macbeth. He asks the other pupils to sculpt Lady Macbeth and Macbeth in to the positions they believe they will be in. The pupils who have been sculpted then read the extract. They stop at so, it will make us mad and the other pupils are asked what they think the characters would say next. Communal voice Individual pupils who have ideas about what they might say are asked by the teacher to stand by the character who they think they can speak for. The scene is then frozen again, after the teacher has explained that one by one the people behind the sculpted characters will continue the scene by speaking their speech and/or thoughts. This convention is called communal voice. The next day The teacher chooses pupils to take on the roles of the characters in Act 2, Scene 3, after the discovery of the murder... O horror, horror... He then asks the rest of the
class to sculpt the characters into the positions (as above). The teacher asks the pupils to begin reading the scene. Forum theatre could be used here to explore the details needed in the staging of such a scene. The teacher freezes the pupils at an appropriate point. Placing the writer and the audience in the text The teacher asks, or chooses, another pupil to be the playwright. He then asks the class to place the writer in the picture where they think he should be. The remaining pupils are asked whether they agree with this positioning and are asked to move the writer to where they feel he is best placed. The pupils use various criteria for this, including the writer s distance from certain characters, whose eyes they are seeing through or speaking through most, the events, the audience s view, what control the writer has, etc. Another pupil representing the audience is then placed in the picture in the same way and a discussion follows about what view the audience has. Is it different from that of the writer? Does the writer control the audience s view? Are they unable to see from a character s point of view? DRAMA -- WORKSHOP TRAINING MATERIALS Crown Copyright 2003 Key Stage 3 National Strategy 16 Placing text in the picture Following the King s death and before Malcolm and Donalbain flee, the class is asked to imagine that the characters are in the castle with Macbeth, Lady Macbeth and Banquo. The teacher asks the pupils to sculpt the characters into positions that they might find these characters in. The teacher then holds a blank piece of paper up in various positions within the scene while he asks the pupils what they think would be on the piece of paper. Depending on where the piece of paper is positioned, the pupils make different suggestions as to what may appear on it. If it is held above the characters heads, they might suggest it is an important scroll on display. If it is placed in one of the character s hands, tied with an important ribbon or seal, hidden in a pocket or screwed up and thrown at their feet, the pupils will suggest something different. The pupils are then asked, in pairs, to create a piece of text that could appear in any of the places in the scene. It is important that they create two identical versions of this piece of text. When the pupils have completed the pieces of text, the teacher sets up the sculpted characters again and asks the pupils one by one to place one copy of their text where they think it would be found in the scene. Once all the pieces of text have been placed, the sculpted characters gradually come to life and turn to, look at, and/or open the pieces of text, one at a time. As they come across each piece of text, they freeze and the pupil who has produced the text reads it out from the identical copy they have retained. The drama continues but stops at each piece of text while different pupils read them out, until all the pieces of text have been included. This is a good opportunity for the teacher to introduce a piece of text, which includes a short extract from the play. Duncan s funeral The teacher asks the pupils to imagine that before Malcolm and Donalbain flee, the funeral of the King is held. After putting the pupils in groups, he asks them to place a coat on the floor to represent Duncan s coffin above the grave, and then set up a still picture of the funeral showing how each of the characters (Macbeth, Lady Macbeth, Banquo, Malcolm and Donalbain) etc. might be reacting, who they might be standing near, how they are positioned at the grave side. The characters are then asked to speak their thoughts to reveal the truth. The end of the play Crimewatch -- Scotland Solved or The Mind of a Murderer The pupils put together the programme Crimewatch -- Scotland Solved or The Mind of a Murderer, through the use of re-enactments (scenes from the play), backdrops (still pictures), and interviews with key witnesses (questioning in role). By working on a piece of extended piece of drama that allows them to consider, in detail, the staging of particular scenes and the issues and themes of the play, they come to a detailed understanding of the character of Macbeth and the nature of a tragic hero. The Mind of a Murderer is an active way of exploring the more traditional question of What causes the tragedy of Macbeth? To construct the programme, the teacher might again work in
role as producer of the programme, giving specific tasks to different groups of pupils (e.g. a re-enactment of the hiring of the murderers, scenes which show the causes of the downfall, witches, Lady Macbeth, etc.) or the pupils, if they have developed their drama skills sufficiently, can work more independently on developing this extended piece of drama. Any of the conventions, placing texts, communal voice, using props and artefacts, still pictures, etc. could be used within the context of the programme. DRAMA -- WORKSHOP TRAINING MATERIALS Crown Copyright 2003 Key Stage 3 National Strategy 17 The final statue How should Macbeth be remembered? In groups, the teacher asks the pupils to develop two sculptures to be placed outside Macbeth s castle. The first one should represent the fair Macbeth and the other the foul Macbeth. The pupils freeze the first and then gradually merge into the second and freeze that one. Then the teacher asks the pupils to try to merge the statutes within one image -- the fair and foul Macbeth -- the tragic hero. The teacher asks the pupils to freeze these final statues, places the picture of Macbeth s castle on the OHP and reads: I have no spur To prick the sides of my intent, but only Vaulting ambition, which o er leaps itself, And falls on th other Or If you can look into the seeds of time And say which grain will grow and which will not Speak then to me Or There s no art To find the mind s construction in the face. He was a gentleman on whom I built An absolute trust Issues for discussion Shakespeare s language. Play as performance. Critical writing. Test preparation.