Idaho Shakespeare Festival’s Study Guide for:

Idaho Shakespeare

Festival’s

Shakespearience

production is a part of

Shakespeare for a

New Generation, a

national program of

the National

Endowment for the

Arts in cooperation

with Arts Midwest.

January 23rd to

March 30th 2012

By:

William Shakespeare

Macbeth

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Topic: Page:

Special Thanks……………………………………. 3

In this Study Guide……………………………….. 3

A Note from the Director…………………………. 4

About our Education Program……………………. 4

About the Playwright……………………..………. 5

The Context of Macbeth…. ..……..………………... 6

Macbeth Story Board……………………………. 7

The Curse of Macbeth……………………………. 8, 9

Meet the Cast……………………………………... 10

Dramatis Personae………………….…………….. 11

Fun Facts…………………………………………. 11

Questions for Discussion: Prior to the Show…….. 12

Questions for Discussion: After the Show…….… 13

Activity—Fifteen-minute Macbeth….…..…….… 14

Activity—T.V. Reporter………………………..... 14

Activity—Something Wicked……………………. 15

Activity—Play Poster…………………………… 16

Activity—Paraphrasing Passages……………..… 17

Activity—Shakespeare Insults!............................... 18

Activity—Selected Scene……………………… 19

Set Sketches by Russell Methany……………….. 20

Activity—Think Like a Scenic Designer………. 19

Activity—Memory Mnemonics Experiment!..... 22

Suggestions for Further Reading………………… 23

Suggestions for Further Study.………………… 23

Information on Idaho Shakespeare Festival …… 24

Table of Contents Macbeth: The Funnies

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A Very Special Thank You:

As a part of the Idaho Shakespeare Festival’s educational programming,

Shakespearience performances have enriched the lives of over one million students

and teachers since 1986 with productions that express the unique and impacting voice

of Shakespeare. The magic of this art form is brought to schools across the State of

Idaho each Winter/Spring semester with assistance from a generous group of

underwriters:

Arts Midwest Boise City Department of Arts & History National Endowment for the Arts Home Federal Foundation Idaho Community Foundation and the following funds: Kissler Family Foundation Philanthropic Gift Fund Gladys E. Langroise Advised Fund Sara Maas Fund Perc H. Shelton & Gladys Pospisil Shelton Advised Fund Miles and Virginia Willard Fund Intermountain Gas Industries Foundation Idaho Commission on the Arts Idaho Humanities Council and National Endowment for the Humanities Laura Moore Cunningham Foundation Idaho Power OfficeMax Community Fund Wells Fargo Foundation Union Pacific Foundation The Whittenberger Foundation THANK YOU!

WELCOME!

You will find background information about William

Shakespeare and Twelfth Night to help you and your

students get the most out of the production.

This resource includes a range of information,

discussion topics, and activities. You should also have

received a box of study guide and resource materials

from the Shakespeare for a New Generation, a

national initiative sponsored by the National

Endowment for the Arts. If you have not received it,

please contact Renee Knappenberger, Director of

Education at renee@idahoshakespeare.org.

We encourage you and your students to share your

thoughts with us! Any letters, questions, or artwork

you send will be shared with the actors and artists

who created the 2010 Shakespearience production of

Twelfth Night. Our address can be found at the end

of this study guide.

Thank you so much!

In This Study Guide:

Idaho Content Standards Addressed in this

study guide:

humanities (hum), language arts (la), social studies

(soc), theater (th), and visual arts (va). History (hist),

music (mus)

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About Our Education Program:

The Idaho Shakespeare Festival has become an integral part of the arts

education throughout Idaho. The Festival’s annual Shakespearience tour

brings live theater to more than 25,000 high-school students in more than 50

Idaho communities each year. Since it began touring in 1986,

Shakespearience has enriched the lives of nearly 500,000 students.

In 1999, the Festival assumed the operations of Idaho Theater for Youth

(ITY). This alliance has more than doubled the Festival’s annual educational

programming, resulting in the Festival becoming the largest provider of

professional, performing arts outreach in the state of Idaho. In addition to the

statewide Idaho Theater for Youth school tour, which brings professional

productions to nearly 30,000 students in grades K-6 across Idaho, the

Festival oversees year-round Drama School programs. This series of classes

in acting, playwriting and production, for students of all ages, enrolls over

300 Treasure Valley students each year. Look for upcoming student

productions throughout the summer, fall and spring.

For more information on any of the Festival’s educational activities, please

contact the Director of Education at the Festival offices, email at

renee@idahoshakespeare.org, or go to www.idahoshakespeare.org.

A Note from the Director: Macbeth is a haunted man. At the beginning of the play he

is visited by the three “weird sisters” (the witches) who prophesy

that he will become king. When Macbeth tells his wife of the

prophetic words, things start to get ugly- she insists that they kill the

present king in order to expedite their “fate”. Macbeth is slow to

agree to the plan, but finally gives in after some emotional bullying

from his wife. Once they have committed the assassination there is

no turning back. They never find peace again- committing the

murder sends them into a world of supernatural and psychological

horror- in order to cover up their crime they have to wreak more

havoc. One ill deed begets another.

To support the discord of Macbeth’s world we have underscored the

play with an eerie soundtrack. The nightmarish soundscape reflects

the personal lack of ease within each character and also foretells evil

deeds to come- in other words sometimes the music comments on

the action of the play and sometimes it telegraphs it. We only use

five actors in our adaptation of Macbeth, the sound becomes the

sixth character- ever present.

We also made a choice to use as few visual objects as possible-

leaving more up to the imagination. The actors use minimal

costumes to differentiate between the various characters that they

portray. Character transformations are executed with simple objects

like hats, jackets and glasses- the actors use their voices and bodies

in different ways in order to create different people. It was very

important to me that the actors be able to shift very quickly between

characters- that way we see Macbeth’s shifting reality. People

appear and disappear, they morph into other characters- at the blink

of an eye everything changes in front of Macbeth. You will notice

that umbrellas are used throughout the show- assisting us in many

ways. From a practical standpoint, the umbrellas serve as masking-

allowing us to hide certain moments from the audience and then

reveal them when we want to. From an artistic standpoint, umbrellas

are an aesthetically interesting object that can take on many different

forms, a weapon, a tree, a table, a bird, a cauldron- the list goes on. I

also find black umbrellas to be particularly menacing- they are dark

and shadowy, spiderlike, and unpredictable.

We have used our imaginations in creating this piece for you, now

we just ask that you meet us half way to complete the experience.

Enjoy! ~Sara Bruner

ISF’s Main Stage

production of

Macbeth in 2008

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William Shakespeare was born in April 1564 in the town of Stratford-upon-Avon, on England’s Avon River. When he was

eighteen, he married Anne Hathaway. The couple had three children, one of whom died in childhood. The bulk of Shakespeare’s

working life was spent in London. He enjoyed success not only as a playwright, but also as an actor and shareholder in an acting

company. Shakespeare became a published poet in 1593 because at this time the theaters had been closed due to the plague, a

contagious epidemic disease that devastated the population of London. When the theaters reopened in 1594, Shakespeare continued

his career as an actor, playwright, and acting-company shareholder. His career spanned over about the next twenty years.

In the 1590s he wrote his plays on English history as well as several comedies and at least two tragedies (Titus Andronicus and

Romeo and Juliet). It is assumed that Shakespeare’s sonnets were also written at this time. In 1599, Shakespeare’s company built a

theater for themselves across the river from London, naming it the Globe. The plays that are considered by many to be Shakespeare’s

major tragedies (Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, and Macbeth) were written while the company was resident in this theater, as were such

comedies as Twelfth Night and Measure for Measure. Many of Shakespeare’s plays were performed at court (both for Queen Elizabeth

I and King James the 1), some were presented at the Inns of Court (the residencies of London’s legal societies), and some were

doubtless performed in other towns, at the universities, and at great houses when the King’s Men, Shakespeare’s acting company, went

on tour. Between 1608 and 1612, Shakespeare wrote several plays---among them The Winter’s Tale and The Tempest---presumably for

the company’s new indoor Blackfriars theater, though the plays seemed to have been performed also at the Globe and at court.

Shakespeare wrote very little after 1612, the year he probably wrote King Henry VIII. It was a performance of Henry VIII in 1613 that

the Globe caught fire and burned to the ground. Shakespeare retired from the stage sometime between 1610 and 1613 and returned to

Stratford, where he died in 1616.

Until the 18th Century, Shakespeare was generally thought to have been more than a rough and untutored genius. Theories were

advanced that his plays had actually been written by someone more educated, perhaps statesman and philosopher Sir Francis Bacon or

the Earl of Southampton, who was Shakespeare’s patron. However, he was celebrated in his own time by English writer Ben Johnson

and others who saw in him a brilliance that would endure. Since the 19th century, Shakespeare’s achievements have been more

consistently recognized, and throughout the Western world he has come to be regarded as the greatest dramatist ever.

About the Playwright: William Shakespeare

Folger Shakespeare Library

“Shakespeare, William” Microsoft Encarta Online Encyclopedia 2001

6

The Context of Macbeth soc, hist

In 1603, at about the middle of Shakespeare’s career as a playwright, a new monarch ascended the throne of England. He was James VI of

Scotland, who then also became James I of England.

Immediately, Shakespeare’s London was alive with an interest in things Scottish. Many Scots followed their king to London and attended the

theaters there. Shakespeare’s company, which became the King’s Men under James’s patronage, now sometimes staged their plays for the

new monarch’s entertainment, just as they had for Queen Elizabeth before him. It was probably within this context that Shakespeare turned to

Raphael Holinshed’s history of Scotland for material for a tragedy.

In Scottish history of the eleventh century, Shakespeare found a spectacle of violence—the slaughter of whole armies and of innocent

families, the assassination of kings, the ambush of nobles by murderers, the brutal execution of rebels. He also came upon stories of witches

and wizards providing advice to traitors. Such accounts could feed the new Scottish King James’s belief in a connection between treason and

witchcraft. James had already himself executed women as witches. Shakespeare’s Macbeth supplied its audience with a sensational view of

witches and supernatural apparitions and equally sensational accounts of bloody battles in which, for example, a rebel was “unseamed . . .

from the nave [navel] to th’ chops [jaws].”

It is possible, then, that in writing Macbeth Shakespeare was mainly intent upon appealing to the new interests in London brought about by

James’s kingship. What he created, though, is a play that has fascinated generations of readers and audiences that care little about Scottish

history.

In its depiction of a man who murders his king and kinsman in order to gain the crown, only to lose all that humans seem to need in order to

be happy—sleep, nourishment, friends, love—Macbeth teases us with huge questions. Why do people do evil knowing that it is evil? Does

Macbeth represent someone who murders because fate tempts him? Because his wife pushes him into it? Because he is overly

ambitious? Having killed Duncan, why does Macbeth fall apart, unable to sleep, seeing ghosts, putting spies in everyone’s homes, killing his

friends and innocent women and children? Why does the success of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth—prophesied by the witches, promising the

couple power and riches and “peace to all their nights and days to come”—turn so quickly to ashes, destroying the Macbeths’ relationship,

their world, and, finally, both of them?

In earlier centuries, Macbeth’s story was seen as a powerful study of a heroic individual who commits an evil act and pays an enormous price

as his conscience—and the natural forces for good in the universe—destroy him. More recently, his story has been applied to nations that

overreach themselves, his speeches of despair quoted to show that Shakespeare shared late-twentieth-century feelings of alienation. Today, the

line between Macbeth’s evil and the supposed good of those who oppose him is being blurred, new attitudes about witches and witchcraft are

being expressed, new questions raised about the ways that maleness and femaleness are portrayed in the play. As with so many of

Shakespeare’s plays, Macbeth speaks to each generation with a new voice.

Shakespeare wrote Macbeth in about 1606 or 1607. It was published in the First Folio in 1623. Adapted from the New Folger Library Shakespeare edition, edited by Barbara A. Mowat and Paul Werstine. © 1992 Folger Shakespeare Library

7

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The superstition follows that any company performing the play will be beset with horrible luck should the name “Macbeth” be spoken

inside a theater, be it backstage, in the house, in the lobby, or especially in the dressing rooms. If an actor does happen to mention the name or

even quotes from the play while he is backstage, tradition requires him to leave the room, turn around three times, spit, then quote the line “Fair

thoughts and happy hours attend on you,” from Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice. Instead of referring to Macbeth by name, theater

professionals have been known to call the play “the Scottish tragedy,” “the Scottish play,” “That play,” “the Comedy of Glamis,” “the Scottish

business,” “the Bard’s play,” or “the Unmentionable,” to name a few synonyms. It is also considered bad luck to use any sets, costumes or

props from a production of Macbeth.

Theater history is full of examples of bad luck besetting productions of Macbeth. The play was first performed before James I, a

descendant of both the historical Duncan and Banquo, who are killed in the play. During the original performance on August 7, 1606, Hal

Barridge, the boy actor cast as Lady Macbeth, collapsed from a fever and later died. Shakespeare himself had to step in and play the role on

short notice. Macbeth was rarely performed again for nearly a century. The day of its London revival in 1703 was noteworthy for one of the

most severe storms in English history. Because of its blasphemous content, the play was blamed for the storm’s calamities, and Queen Anne

ordered a week of prayer during which all theatres were closed.

Over the next two centuries the disasters continued, “the curse” taking its greatest toll after the Astor Place riots in New York City in

1849. During a performance of Macbeth by British actor William Charles Macready, the supporters of his American rival, Edwin Forrest,

clashed with police. Twenty-two people were killed, and some 150 more were injured.

Probably the most famous person to suffer the Macbeth curse was not an actor but a U.S. President assassinated by one. Macbeth was

Abraham Lincoln’s favorite play, and he spent the afternoon of April 9, 1865 reading passages aloud to a party of friends onboard the River

Queen on the Potomac River. The passages Lincoln chose happened to follow the scene in which Duncan is assassinated. Five days later

Lincoln himself was assassinated.

Probably the most famous person to suffer the Macbeth curse was not an actor but a U.S. President assassinated by one. Macbeth was

Abraham Lincoln’s favorite play, and he spent the afternoon of April 9, 1865 reading passages aloud to a party of friends onboard the River

Queen on the Potomac River. The passages Lincoln chose happened to follow the scene in which Duncan is assassinated. Five days later

Lincoln himself was assassinated.

In the 20th century numerous other calamities associated with the play have been recorded. In the early 1920’s Lionel Barrymore’s

portrayal of Macbeth received such harsh reviews that Barrymore never performed on Broadway again.

During the first modern-dress production at the Royal Court Theatre in London in 1928, a large set fell down, causing serious injury to

members of the company, and a fire broke out in the dress circle.

In 1937 the career of 30-year-old Laurence Olivier almost came to an abrupt end when a heavy stage weight crashed down from the flies

while he was rehearsing at the Old Vic, striking the backstage seat he had abandoned only moments earlier. The weight missed him by inches.

Days later, the opening of that production had to be postponed because the director and the actor playing Lady Macduff were in a traffic

accident on their way to the theater. And the theater’s proprietor, Lilian Baylis, died of a heart attack during the dress rehearsal. Professor

Margaret Cherne relates that in 1954, on opening night of another production of Macbeth, Baylis’ portrait fell off the lobby wall and crashed

down onto the bar. (Continued on

The Curse of Macbeth hist

9

(Continued from previous page)

Professor Cherne shared another story about Orson Welles’ African drummers in the Mercury Theatre’s voodoo Macbeth putting an

actual curse on critic Percy Hammond, who loathed the show. Hammond died within a week. Cherne also corroborated a sad tale of a

production done many years ago at the old Crawford Livingston Theatre in St. Paul, Minnesota. The lead actor playing Macbeth dropped

dead of heart failure during the first scene of Act III.

In a 1953 open-air production in Bermuda starring Charlton Heston, the soldiers storming Macbeth’s castle were to burn it to the

ground onstage. On opening night, the wind blew smoke and flames into the audience, who fled in terror.

There are numerous stories of cast members who chanted “All hail Macbeth!” in defiance of the curse, only to have storms disrupt

their performance and damage the theatre building.

Actor Adam Versenyi relates that while playing Angus in a production, he “watched from offstage while the actor playing Macbeth

suffered two aneurysms outside the brain as he was delivering the dagger speech. It was the best performance he ever delivered, but he

spent the following month in a hospital.”

When Peter Hall directed Paul Scofield and Vivien Merchant at Stratford in 1967, he urged the cast to put aside all thoughts of bad

luck. He collapsed with shingles shortly thereafter.

There are many origins for this superstition. One theory holds that Shakespeare used real witches’ incantations, taken from the

Scottish witch trials of the 1590’s, for the witches’ dialogue and songs in the play. Another hypothesis maintains that the play contains the

devil in the form of the Porter. Theater historian Thomas A. Pallen, however, notes that although Macbeth is Shakespeare’s shortest

tragedy (2,108 lines), there are more swordfights, stabbings and murders than any of his other plays. (Only The Comedy of Errors, with

1,778, and The Tempest, with 2,064, fewer lines.) Pallen adds that since the play is usually performed under low light levels to

accommodate all of the heath scenes and night-time banquets, the dim lighting makes accidents more likely, resulting in a higher incidence

of on-stage injuries.

Another non-superstitious theory regarding the origin of the Macbeth curse holds that the superstition actually began in the old days

of stock companies, which would struggle virtually at all times to remain in business. Frequently, near the end of a season, a stock

company would realize that it was not going to break even, and, in an attempt to boost ticket sales and attendance, would announce the

production of a crowd favorite: Macbeth. If times were particularly bad, even “the Scottish play” would not be enough to save the

company. Therefore, Macbeth often presaged the end of a company’s season and would frequently be a portent of the company’s demise.

Thus, the fear of Macbeth was generally the fear of bad business and of an entire company being put out of work.

Sources:

“Superstition and the Scottish Play,” Patrick M. Finelli, Ph.D.

“Cross Your Fingers – It’s Friday the 13th,” Shirley Mathews.

“That Play – The Real-Life Drama of Macbeth,” John White.

Supernatural On Stage: Ghosts and Superstitions of the Theatre, Richard Huggett, Taplinger Publishing, NY 1975.

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Macbeth Cast & Crew

Nicole Frachiseur

Costume Designer

Sara Bruner

Director

Jodi Dominick

Assistant Director

Dakotah Brown

Actor

Luke Massengill

Actor

Sarah Gardner

Actor

Veronica Von Tobel

Actor

Matthew Webb

Sound Engineer

Noah Moody

Actor

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Dramatis Personae:Macbeth: General in the King’s Army—Luke

Massengill

Lady Macbeth: Wife to Macbeth—Veronica

Von Tobel

Duncan: King of Scotland—Dakotah Brown

Banquo: General in the King’s Army—Noah

Moody

Lady Macduff: Wife to Macduff—Sarah

Gardner

Macduff: Nobleman of Scotland—Dakotah

Brown

Seyton: an officer attending on Macbeth—

Noah Moody

Fleance: son to Banquo—Sarah Gardner

Porter: Keeper of Macbeth’s castle—Noah

Moody

Ross: Nobleman of Scotland—Sarah Gard-

ner

Lord, Murders, Witches—Ensemble

Fun Facts! Macbeth is performed somewhere in the world once every four hours!

The average American has a vocabulary of about 10,000 words.

Shakespeare’s vocabulary was 29,000!

Shakespeare invented a lot of words including: bedroom, bump,

assassination, apostrophe, bloody, dislocate, frugal, majestic and

suspicious.

Shakespeare died on his 52nd birthday.

If you were to Google “Shakespeare,” you would get over 15 million

pages!

All of Shakespeare’s family members are thought to have been illiterate.

Shakespeare had no descendants after all his grandchildren died.

All the moon’s of Uranus are named after Shakespeare characters.

No portrait of Shakespeare was ever painted while he was alive.

The role of Hamlet has nearly 1,500 lines - almost as long as the entire

Macbeth’s

Scotland

12

Questions For Discussion: Prior to the Show

1. How much power do you believe you have over the direction of your life? Explain your answer. In general, which

situations or events in your life do you believe are the result of intervention from a higher power? Which situations or

events in your life are the result of your own influences or choices? How do you determine the answers to these

questions? Do you believe in supernatural forces working in the world? Why or why not? Can you describe an

experience that made you question the influence of the supernatural in your life? Do you believe that all events that occur

in the world can be explained? Why or why not?

2. How do you define ambition? Is ambition necessary for personal success? Why or why not? What is the difference

between desire and ambition? How do you respond when your desire for something is overwhelming? Have you ever

been obsessive about something you wanted? What did you do about this obsession? At what point does your desire

become addictive? What is the hardest part about controlling your desires?

3. Do you believe that every person has a conscience? Why or why not? Where does the concept of guilt come from? Are

guilt and conscience connected? If so, how are they connected? When you feel guilty about something, what do you do?

Can guilt cause such drastic hallucinations, as in the case of Macbeth? Why or why not?

4. Do women have the same opportunities as men in gaining power? Consider women in politics, high corporate positions,

or women who are married to men in power. Are they treated the same? Based on your answer, why do you suppose

Lady Macbeth is so concerned with her husband’s status? What could be her motivations to help her husband gain

power? Is her situation similar to that of women today? Why or why not?

5. What is morality? Do you believe there is a universal moral code? Why or why not? If you had to define the moral code,

what actions would you identify as moral and what actions would you identify as immoral? Explain your answer. What is

the driving principal that separates moral from immoral actions in your moral code?

6. Think of superstitions we have in our society today. Why do we have them? Macbeth is a play surrounded by

superstition as well. If the title is mentioned within a theatre, it is considered bad luck for the production. This

superstition is so deeply rooted that oftentimes, directors and actors will refer to it as “the Scottish play.” From what you

know of the plot of the play, why do you suppose that this superstition is attached to this work? Why are horoscopes and

psychic hotlines so popular in today’s culture? Are horoscopes and psychics important in a society? Why or why not?

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1. Are the Macbeths entirely reprehensible? Are there no redeeming qualities about them? Why might Shakespeare

create characters that nothing good could be said about them, even in death, when in fact the first words used to

describe Macbeth in Act I are “brave,” “valiant,” and “worthy”? Pascal once said, “There is no man who differs

more from another than he does from himself at another time.” If this is true, it means that we all have some Lord

and Lady Macbeth within us. Do you believe Pascal’s statement has merit? If so, do you believe there are truly

evil people in this world? Does palpable evil exist? Can it exist within a good person? Why does evil seem to

take hold of some people but not others?

2. Scholars have noted that a reader can tell a lot about what Shakespeare thought of a character by what is said about

them after they have died. For example, Hamlet has flights of angels singing him to his rest. Brutus, even after

killing Julius Caesar, is called the “noblest Roman of them all.” Even Othello, after killing the innocent

Desdemona, is called “great of heart.” Yet in this play, Macbeth is called a “dead butcher” and Lady Macbeth “his

fiend-like queen.” Why do you think that other Shakespearean characters who behaved in no way innocently have

been given a kinder send off than the Macbeths?

3. Oftentimes Lady Macbeth is given the brunt of the blame the murder of Duncan, and she is viewed as a master

manipulator who simply controls her husband. If this is true, what responsibility does Macbeth actually bear for

the deed, given that even before he speaks with his wife about Duncan he commands the stars to “hide your fires;

Let not light see my black and deep desires”? Can someone make you do something that you truly do not want to

do? What responsibility do you have over your own actions?

4. Virtually every production of Shakespeare has lines or even entire scenes that are cut by the director. Did you

notice any cuts in the script from your reading of the play on the printed page? One notable cut is the character of

Hecate, which scholars widely agree was later added to the play by a lesser writer after Shakespeare’s death. Are

there other cuttings you observed or that surprised you?

Questions For Discussion: After the Show

14

The Fifteen-Minute Macbeth th, la

Activity!

Divide the class into five groups. Each group will select an act for their presentation and will construct a three-

minute version of their act. They must use lines from the act. Students will prepare their scripts. (Give a day of

classroom time for group work.) On the following day, the groups perform their scripts. Within fifteen minutes, an

abridged version will be performed. After the conclusion of Act V, have each group explain what events they chose

to include and those events which they chose to ignore.

T.V. Reporter th, la

You are a reporter for the television tabloid Entertainment Tonight. You have just seen a new production of

Macbeth at the Idaho Shakespeare Festival. Your job is to present a two minute “review” of the play and this

production.

Write a script and then present your report to the class and your TV audience. You can include:

1. Your opinion of the production

2. Your choices of the best from the production: costumes, scenic design, acting, best scene, best line

etc.

3. Your choices of these production elements that did not work.

4. Your recommendation to the audience. Should they see the play? Why or why not?

Act I Group:

Act II Group:

Act III Group:

Act IV Group:

Act V Group:

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Something Wicked th, la

Activity! Copy this page!

“SOMETHING

WICKED THIS WAY

COMES” For centuries people

believed in supernatural

witches. This chart lists

some of the characteristics

that people believe witches

manifest. Identify the line

from the play which

supports these beliefs.

Example:

Trait:

Fly/Vansih

Quote:

“Hover through the fog and

filthy air”

16

In professional theater, there is often a person called the ‘art director’ who is responsible for designing all the advertising materials for a production,

including promotional posters, programs, etc. Using any art materials from the classroom or special materials from home (magazines to make a collage, etc.), have

your students design posters for Macbeth. They can advertise the Shakespearience! production, or use their imaginations and create their very own productions!

Below are three examples of posters for Macbeth you can share with your students for inspiration. Some information they may want to include:

The show’s title

The dates, times, and location the play is being performed

Contact information (phone numbers, addresses, or websites)

Names of actors appearing in the play (could be their friends, celebrities, anybody!)

A tagline or excerpts from imaginary reviews (“Two thumbs up!”)

A drawing or collection of drawings that highlights a character, scene, location, or theme from Macbeth that the student feels is important for a potential audience

member to understand about her production.

Play Poster va, th

Activity!

Three Different Examples:

17

Paraphrasing Passages la, mus, va, th

Many passages in Macbeth contain beautiful language; however, they are sometimes difficult for modern

readers. Select one of the following passages and write it in your own words. Finally, perform your selected

passage for the class. You might wish to dramatize the passage using visual aids, gestures and music. Or, you

may wish to join with other students for a group presentation.

Activity!

Copy this page!

MACBETH She should have died hereafter;

There would have been a time for such a word.

To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,

Creeps in this petty pace from day to day

To the last syllable of recorded time,

And all our yesterdays have lighted fools

The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!

Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player

That struts and frets his hour upon the stage

And then is heard no more: it is a tale

Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,

Signifying nothing.

MACDUFF Despair thy charm;

And let the angel whom thou still hast served

Tell thee, Macduff was from his mother's womb

Untimely ripp'd.

Then yield thee, coward.

LADY MACBETH What beast was't, then,

That made you break this enterprise to me?

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. Nor time nor place

Did then adhere, and yet you would make both:

They have made themselves, and that their fitness

now

Does unmake you. I have given suck, and know

How tender 'tis to love the babe that milks me:

I would, while it was smiling in my face,

Have pluck'd my nipple from his boneless gums,

And dash'd the brains out, had I so sworn as you

Have done to this.

BANQUO Thou hast it now: king, Cawdor, Glamis, all,

As the weird women promised, and, I fear,

Thou play'dst most foully for't: yet it was said

It should not stand in thy posterity,

But that myself should be the root and father

Of many kings.

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Activity! COLUMN A COLUMN B COLUMN C

bawdy bunch-backed canker-blossom

brazen clay-brained clotpole

churlish dog-hearted crutch

distempered empty-hearted cutpurse

fitful evil-eyed dogfish

gnarling eye-offending egg-shell

greasy fat-kidneyed gull-catcher

grizzled heavy-headed hedge-pig

haughty horn-mad hempseed

hideous ill-breeding jack-a-nape

jaded ill-composed malkin

knavish ill-nurtured malignancy

lewd iron-witted malt-worm

peevish lean-witted manikin

pernicious lily-livered minimus

prating mad-bread miscreant

purpled motley-minded moldwarp

queasy muddy-mettled nut-hook

rank onion-eyed pantaloon

reeky pale-hearted rabbit-sucker

roynish paper-faced rampallion

saucy pinch-spotted remnant

sottish raw-boned rudesby

unmuzzled rug-headed ruffian

vacant rump-fed scantling

waggish shag-eared scullion

wanton shrill-gorged snipe

wenching sour-faced waterfly

whoreson weak-hinged whipster

yeasty white-livered younker

The Art of the Insult

Directions: Combineth one

word or phrase from each of

the Columns below and addeth

“Thou” to the beginning.

Make certain thou knowest the

meaning of thy strong words,

and thou shalt have the perfect

insult to fling at the wretched

fools of the opposing team. Let

thyself go. Mix and match to

find that perfect barb from the

Bard.

INSULT HURLER:

__________________________________

INSULT:

Thou ______________________________

__________________________________

__________________________________

DEFINITION:

You _______________________________

__________________________________

19

S

E

L

E

C

T

E

D

S

C

E N

E

For Your Class

The following scene work is included to complement your active exploration of Macbeth. The abbreviated scene is

relatively short and can be simply staged. This is the very first scene in the play where Macbeth first hears of the

prediction that there is power in store for his life.

Split the class into groups and ask each of them to perform their own version of this important scene. Allow them

to get creative with how they want to present their scenes to the rest of the class!

th

Thunder and lightning. Enter Witches

First Witch When shall we three meet again

In thunder, lightning, or in rain?

Second Witch When the hurlyburly's done,

When the battle's lost and won.

Third Witch That will be ere the set of sun.

First Witch Where the place?

Second Witch Upon the heath.

Third Witch There to meet with Macbeth.

ALL Fair is foul, and foul is fair:

Hover through the fog and filthy air.

Enter MACBETH and BANQUO

MACBETH So foul and fair a day I have not seen.

BANQUO How far is't call'd to Forres? What are these

That look not like the inhabitants o' the earth,

And yet are on't? Live you?

MACBETH Speak, if you can: what are you?

First Witch All hail, Macbeth! hail to thee, thane of

Glamis!

Second Witch All hail, Macbeth, hail to thee, thane of Caw-

dor!

Third Witch All hail, Macbeth, thou shalt be king hereaf-

ter!

BANQUO Good sir, why do you start; and seem to fear

Things that do sound so fair? I' the name of

truth,

Are ye fantastical

First Witch Hail!

Second Witch Hail!

Third Witch Hail Banquo!

First Witch Lesser than Macbeth, and greater.

Second Witch Not so happy, yet much happier.

Third Witch Thou shalt get kings, though thou be none:

So all hail, Macbeth and Banquo!

First Witch Banquo and Macbeth, all hail!

MACBETH Stay, you imperfect speakers, tell me more:

By Sinel's death I know I am thane of

Glamis;

But how of Cawdor? the thane of Cawdor

lives,

A prosperous gentleman; and to be king

Stands not within the prospect of belief.

Speak, I charge you.

Witches vanish

20

Macbeth Scenic Design by: Russell Metheny

21

Design a set for Macbeth!

Here is a stage drawing for reference

Copy this page!

Think Like a Scenic Designer! va, th

Activity!

22

Memory Mnemonics Experiment! sci Activity!

MNEMONICS:

Have you ever had to memorize a list of words or an equation for a test at school? Maybe it was a list of the planets or all the state capitals. Think about how many

words the actors in Othello had to memorize! Sometimes it can be difficult to remember long lists of words. This is where memory techniques can help. One memory

technique is called mnemonics. A mnemonic (pronounced nuh-MAH-nick) is a memory aid that uses systems of rhymes, acronyms, and diagrams to help you

remember names, dates, facts, and figures. An example of a mnemonic is the word scuba, which is not just a word—each letter in the word stands for something.

Scuba is an acronym for self-contained underwater breathing apparatus. Another example of a mnemonic is the rhyme "i before e except after c, or when sounding 'a'

as in neighbor or weigh." This mnemonic was designed to help a person remember the order of the letters "i" and "e" in different words. Mnemonics are a great

resource not just for you as students, but for actors trying to memorize lines, teachers to help remember students names, business people to remember a to-do list and

even the president to memorize a speech!

HISTORY:

The term mnemonic is derived from Greek. It is based on the word mnemonikos which means "of memory." This word refers back to mnema, which means

"remembrance." There are several different types of mnemonics. You can use music, name, expression, model, rhyme, note, image, connection, and spelling

mnemonics to help you remember just about anything.

PROCEDURE:

Gather six of your friends and separate them into two groups. One group will be the control group and the other will be the experimental group. The purpose of a

control group is to act as a constant and to highlight any effects the variables in an experiment may have on the experimental group. You will ask each member of the

control group to memorize the list below without using a mnemonic, then test them by asking them to repeat the list back. Next, you will ask each member of the

experimental group to memorize the same list of words, but using a mnemonic.

QUESTIONS:

LIST OF WORDS:

Fish Girl

Coffee Apple

Phone Glue

Scissors Dog

Cane Violin

Treacherous Elephant

Snow Number

X-ray Baby

1. Did the mnemonic help you remember the list

better than the control group, who did not use a

mnemonic?

2. What kind of mnemonic did you use?

3. Did you find the mnemonic to be helpful?

4. What areas of study might be a mnemonic device

be helpful?

5. Which words were the hardest to memorize with-

out a memorizing device? Why?

www.cartoonstock.com

23

Suggestions for Further Study:

Asimov, Isaac. Asimov’s Guide to Shakespeare. Wing Books. 1970

Asimov offers passage by passage interpretations and important information about characters and settings. This guide also has wonderful

maps that can be adapted for classroom use.

Bloom, Harold. Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human . Riverhead Books. 1998

There are terrific essays on each of the plays. Insights into the characters of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are interesting.

Burnett, Rebecca and Elizabeth Foster Shakespeare Persona: A Creative Approach to Writing. Sundance Publishers. 1985

This is a handbook of suggested creative writing assignments for various plays. Many ideas can be adapted to other plays.

King, Susan Fraser. Lady Macbeth. Crown Publishing. 2008

One of the newer historical fiction books about Lady Macbeth. She is portrayed as a Celtic queen who was crowned Queen of the Scots

and not merely the consort queen. The book gives a great sense of Scotland in the eleventh century. Prophecies and witches are woven into this

telling. Entertaining and informative.

Nostbakken, Faith Understanding Macbeth: A student Casebook to Issues, Sources, and Historical Documents. Greenwood Press. 1997

This book contains original source material and suggested discussion questions. Many of the articles are especially helpful for relating the

play to contemporary problems.

To watch in

relation to

Macbeth:

24

Idaho Shakespeare Festival

Charles Fee, Producing Artistic Director

Mark Hofflund, Managing Director

P.O. Box 9365

Boise, Idaho 83707

Telephone (208) 429-9908

Box Office (208) 336-9221

www.idahoshakespeare.org

The Idaho Shakespeare Festival has evolved into one of the region’s premier, professional theater arts organizations, directly serving over 115,000

individuals annually. It is governed by a volunteer member Board of Trustees, with additional Consulting Members, 2 co-equal executives and a

permanent staff of 10 employees. In addition, the Festival operates as an “artistic home” for over 130 artists and production staff, who are employed

during the summer and at other times of the year, such as during the Festival’s spring educational tours.

At the organization’s core is its outdoor summer season which presents classical repertory, focusing on the plays of William Shakespeare, in addition to

some contemporary works including musicals. The Festival’s Amphitheater and Reserve, now entering its 15th year of operation, is the venue for over

56,000 audience members who come to Boise from across Idaho and increasingly from other states and countries.

In addition to its seasonal productions, the Idaho Shakespeare Festival provides theater arts programming integrated into the curricula of approximately

95% of the school districts in Idaho, as well as serving parts of Oregon, Wyoming, and Nevada. Through its school tours, Shakespearience and Idaho

Theater for Youth, the Festival annually reaches over 50,000 children at all grade levels, particularly focusing on children in remote and rural

communities.

ISF’s School of Theater exemplifies the Festival’s attempts to foster life-long learning and appreciation of the theater, providing ongoing classes for

students ranging in age from pre-school to adult. The Festival’s Summer Apprentice Program and Residencies are also offered for extended theatrical

training. In the tradition of its highly-popular Family Nights, along with Matinees at the Festival serving over 55,000 students in the Amphitheater since

1993, the Festival donates tickets to over 100 non-profit and student groups, has created a special access program for both students and low-income

groups, and now makes low-cost access possible for children, young adults, and students of all ages throughout the summer season.

Festival staff members also participate in the community, serving on boards and assisting the activities not only of local and regional organizations, but

also participating at a national level, where Charles Fee is also Producing Artistic Director for Great Lakes Theater Festival (Cleveland) and Lake Tahoe

Shakespeare Festival, and Mark Hofflund served a presidential appointment to the National Council on the Arts (Washington, D.C.). Both Festival

executives have been community leaders in Idaho for the better part of two decades, and both maintain fulltime residency with their families in Boise.

ABOUT THE IDAHO SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL