shakespeare’s macbeth - tara-arts arts... · macbeth’s real name was mac bethad mac findlaich...

TARA ARTS - EDUCATION RESOURCE PACK

Tara Arts People, Words & Art: Connecting Worlds 1 www.tara-arts.com Registered Charity No: 295547

Tara Arts

in association with

Queen’s Hall Arts & Black Theatre Live presents

Shakespeare’s

MACBETH

NATIONAL TOUR 2015


Tara Arts People, Words & Art: Connecting Worlds 2www.tara-arts.com Registered Charity No: 295547

CONTENTS

Shakespeare’s Macbeth and the National Curriculum 3

About Tara Arts 4-5

About Black Theatre Live & Queens Hall Arts 6-7

About Tara Arts’ production Classroom activities

8

Background - Shakespeare’s Macbeth Classroom activities

9

Macbeth in different cultures Classroom activities

10-11

Shakespeare’s life and works 12

Speaking Shakespeare’s verse Classroom activities

13-15

Creative team & Cast biographies Classroom activities

16-18

Would you like to have been an actor in Shakespeare’s day? Classroom activities

19

You can be a Theatre Critic, writing about performance Classroom activities

20

Join our networks & follow the tour - Shakespeare’s Macbeth 2015 dates & venues

21-22

Further Resources & Research 23

Feedback form 24

Tara Arts

Artistic Director Executive Director Associate Director General Manager Captial Administrator Finance Officer Development Consultant

Jatinder Verma Jonathan Kennedy Claudia Mayer Alexandra Wyatt Martina Ferry Xiao Hong (Sharon) Zhang James Shea

With thanks to Freya Edgeworth for research & preparation of this pack.

Tara Arts, 356 Garratt Lane, London, SW18 4ES Tel: +44 (0)20 8333 4457 [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]



SHAKESPEARE’S MACBETH & THE NATIONAL CURRICULUM

Tara Arts’ production of Shakespeare’s tragedy Macbeth is suitable for study at Key Stage 3 and 4 including teaching across the national curriculum in:

English & Theatre Studies

Critical Understanding: Engaging with the ideas and themes in the text, understanding and

responding to the main issues, assessing the validity and significance of information and ideas from

different sources, and analysing and evaluating spoken and written language to appreciate how

meaning is shaped.

Music

Understanding musical traditions and the part music plays in global culture: exploring how ideas,

experiences and emotion can be conveyed through a range of music from different times and

cultures, investigating ways music can be combined with other art forms, analysing how thoughts,

feelings, ideas and emotions can be expressed through music.

Citizenship

Range and Content: Political, Legal and Human Rights, responsibilities of citizens, morals

and ethics. How economic decisions are made including where public money comes from and

who decides how it is spent. How actions individuals, groups and organisations take

influence decisions affecting communities and the environment.

CLASSROOM EXERCISES & ACTIVITIES are indicated throughout this Education Resource Pack

This Education Resource Pack has been designed to give teachers and students information about

the play, Tara Arts’ production, and practical classroom games and exercises linked to the National

Curriculum to support student visits to see the theatre production on tour. We have assembled a

range of activities to help you reflect and work creatively through presentation, discussing, role

play and performance, improvisation, and writing.

Playing the Flame (1979) The Little Clay Cart (1986) A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1996)



ABOUT TARA ARTS

Tara Arts was founded in 1977. Its mission is to creatively reflect the “infinite variety” of modern Britain – People, Words & Art: Connecting Worlds.

From its home-base of a small-scale theatre in south London, the company:

Produces & tours European and Asian classics andmodern plays

Tours great stories of the world for children in juniorschools

Encourages new audiences to engage with the arts

Supports the development of young and mid-careerartists

Hosts Research & Development sessions for new work

Tara Arts is a pioneer in providing Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic artists a voice and a space to share their respective cultural heritages with all audiences. It has been instrumental in inspiring and mentoring a range of existing BAME theatre companies, including Tamasha, Kali Theatre Company and Yellow Earth.

Tara Arts was the first BAME company to be invited to present its work at the National Theatre, in 1989.

The company’s range of associated artists include: Hanif Kureishi CBE, Ayub Khan Din (East is East), composer Nitin Sawhney, Sanjeev Bhaskar (The Kumars at No 42), Naveen Andrews (The English Patient and LOST), Sudha Bhuchar (Tamasha Theatre) and Alex Wheatle MBE.

Jatinder Verma (Artistic Director) is one of the co-founders of Tara Arts. In 1989 he directed his adaptation of Moliere’s Tartuffe at the National Theatre with an all-Asian cast. For over 35 years, his creative vision has led Tara Arts’ ongoing success.



Photos of previous Tara Arts productions

Journey to the West (2002) A Taste for Mangoes (2002)

The Tempest (2008) The Black Album 2009

Tara Arts is renovating its theatre in south London to re-open in December 2015, as a small-scale production house. Tara Theatre will be the first ever National centre for cross-cultural theatre with a distinct East-West aesthetic: in the fabric and design of the building and the theatre produced and staged there.



ABOUT BLACK THEATRE LIVE

Black Theatre Live is a pioneering national consortium of 8 regional theatres led by Tara Arts, committed to effecting change for BAME touring theatre through a sustainable 3-year programme of national touring, structural support and audience development.

Black Theatre Live is a partnership of Tara Arts, Derby Theatre, Queen’s Hall Arts (Northumberland), Lighthouse (Poole), Theatre Royal Bury St. Edmunds, Theatre Royal Margate, Stratford Circus (London) and Key Theatre (Peterborough).

Black Theatre Live expects to work with emerging and established BAME companies across England to commission and tour high quality productions to the consortia theatres over the coming 3 years.

Black Theatre Live will shape a dynamic national programme of mid- and small-scale tours. Its structured audience development and community engagement programmes will include live digital streaming and cinema relay.

We are delighted to receive Arts Council England’s support to transform the national landscape of BAME touring theatre in the coming years.

Joyce Wilson, Area Director, London, Arts Council England, said: ‘"We are really pleased to be supporting the Black Theatre Live national consortium, which is being led by Tara Arts – a National portfolio organisation. The consortium’s work will make a strong contribution towards affecting lasting infrastructural change for BAME touring theatre through the creation of a sustainable 3-year programme of national touring and audience development. It is wonderful to see organisations working together in this way to develop audiences, support greater community engagement and promote greater diversity. "

www.blacktheatrelive.co.uk/

http://www.blacktheatrelive.co.uk/



ABOUT QUEEN’S HALL ARTS Queen's Hall Arts (QHA) is the charitable company that manages the venue, Queen’s Hall Arts Centre, Hexham and provides an art service to a large part of rural Northumberland.

The Queen’s Hall is a magnificent early Victorian building which faces Hexham Abbey (dating from 647AD). From its christening as an arts centre in 1983 until the hand over to the charitable organisation, Queens Hall Arts in 2001, the building was under local authority control. The building is shared with Hexham Library and the Little Angel Café, both tenants of Queens Hall Arts. Queen’s Hall’s resident theatre company Théâtre Sans Frontières is based in offices at QHAC and opens all of its shows in the Theatre.

Queen’s Hall Arts Centre boasts a 350-seat theatre and two galleries all managed by Queens Hall Arts. QHAC has established itself as a strong base for an extensive range of artistic activity, attracting the best international and national artists from music, drama, dance and national touring comedy to non professional shows put on by local community groups. In addition to programming within the building, QHA delivers an extensive outreach service bringing workshops and performances to communities throughout Northumberland. Queen's Hall is also home to Hexham Book Festival and Judith King of Arts & Heritage. QHA receives regular financial support from Northumberland County Council, Arts Council England and Northern Film & Media. http://www.queenshall.co.uk/

http://www.hexhamabbey.org.uk/

http://www.hexhamabbey.org.uk/

http://www.northumberland.gov.uk/default.aspx?page=10444

http://www.thelittleangelcafe.com/

http://www.thelittleangelcafe.com/

http://www.tsf.org.uk/index.php

http://www.hexhambookfestival.co.uk/

http://www.queenshall.co.uk/



ABOUT TARA ARTS’ PRODUCTION

Tara Arts in association with Queen’s Hall Arts & Black Theatre Live presents

Three outrageous drag-queens* cook up an explosive brew of treachery, ambition and passion, setting an Asian family off on a path of bloody self-destruction. Tara Arts brings Indian movement and music to Shakespeare’s text, offering a powerful contemporary take on his darkest play. * hijras in modern India and Pakistan

Robert Mountford (Much Ado, RSC, Silent Witness) stars as Macbeth, with Shaheen Khan (Rafta Rafta, NT, Bend it Like Beckham) as Lady Macbeth.

Classroom activities 1. VISUAL ANALYSIS: What does our publicity poster tell you about the play?

2. LANGUAGE ANALYSIS: What does Lady Macbeth’s famous line mean? “look like th’ innocent flower, But be the serpent under’t...”?

3. ROLE PLAY: One of the best ways to understand Shakespeare’s language and characters is to perform his plays. Not only will this make learning Macbeth more fun, but it will make it interesting and clearer. In threes, stand up and perform the opening scene with the witches.

Check out the trailer for the production of Macbeth on tour online here: http://tara-arts.com/touring/shakespeares-macbeth produced by Damn Fine Media

http://tara-arts.com/touring/shakespeares-macbeth



BACKGROUND – THE STORY OF MACBETH

The Tragedy of Macbeth, commonly known as Macbeth, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare and is his most frequently performed play.

Macbeth is assumed to have been written 1606 during the reign on James I. Shakespeare’s dark and most cynical plays were written when James I was in power, which reflects how distrusting and pessimistic the people were feeling after Elizabeth I. 1606 was a year after the famous Gunpowder plot which was a failed attempt to blow up James I and Parliament. The Jacobean era was a time of uncertainty and change for England.

Shakespeare’s Macbeth is considered one of his darkest plays due to its great emotional intensity. It is a relentless tale of ambition, showing the lengths people will go to in order to gain power. But Macbeth’s desire is proved to be futile: once he plots and kills, the consequences of his actions drive him to paranoia, madness and eventually death.

Shakespeare’s exploration of the human psyche has made Macbeth a figure of doom and warning, and can act as a warning of how excessive ambition can lead to horrific outcomes.

Fun facts about Macbeth:

Macbeth actually existed. He was fatally wounded at battle on August 15 1057, which was 17years after he was crowned King

Macbeth’s real name was Mac Bethad mac Findlaich (McBeatha in modern Gaelic) and means ‘Son of Life’. Lady Macbeth’s real name was Gruoch.

There are 17,121 words in Macbeth, making it Shakespeare’s shortest play

If you say Macbeth in a theatre, it is deemed bad-luck and you are meant to walk three times in a circle anti-clockwise and say a rude word, or spit.

Because of the superstition in some theatre’s about saying Macbeth out loud, it is oftenreferred to as the ‘Scottish Play’ instead.

Photo credit: Wikipedia

Classroom activities

1. CLASS DISCUSSION: How are Shakespeare’s plays dramatic and interesting?

2. GROUP DISCUSSION: How is evil presented in Macbeth?

3. ROLE –PLAY: In groups of 3-4, create a tableau of images in freeze frame of what you think are the mostimportant moments in the play. The images should reflect themes and points of interest, as well as a strong sense of character understanding. Try to attach a quote from the play matching the image. Show each other your work and reflect on how the other actors are combining character and theme.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tragedy

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Shakespeare



MACBETH IN DIFFERENT CULTURES

Shakespeare’s plays are as relevant to us today as they were over 400 years ago, and because of their relevance to the world today, they are performed and studied worldwide. This is because they address the fundamental aspects of human nature and emotions; such as love, anger, jealousy, friendship, ambition.

Shakespeare is continually being re-interpreted and re-invented. Shakespeare’s works also have had an immense impact in film, radio, opera, and novels, exploring different takes on his plays. For centuries, different countries and places have been applying their own ideas and interpretations of his works. This creates more diversity and dynamic, and transforms the plays to a completely new and exciting territory. Through applying influences of various cultural values, political ideologies, and theatrical ideas into performance, it not only means we are learning about the world around us, but that we are challenging and questioning the critical issues and ideas in the text. We are keeping Shakespeare alive.

There have been notable productions recently involving different cultures. Verdi’s opera version was performed at the Barbican Centre recently, set in the Congo. An Indian adaptation of Macbeth, called Maqbool, was made for film.

This article from The Guardian captures the importance of Shakespeare in other cultures http://www.theguardian.com/stage/theatreblog/2014/nov/14/shakespeare-foreign-production

Photo credit: The Barbican

Classroom activity 1. GROUP DISCUSSION: How does the play Macbeth relate to today?

2. GROUP DISCUSSION How would an audience in village India or China see the play? Would theirresponses be different to yours?

3) INDIVIDUAL RELFECTION: Why is it important to watch different productions from different cultural perspectives on stage, TV and film?

http://www.theguardian.com/stage/theatreblog/2014/nov/14/shakespeare-foreign-production



TARA ARTS PRODUCTION OF MACBETH

There are approximately 8.4 million Asians (including those of mixed Asian ancestry) living in the UK today. Our production is set in modern Britain, in an extended Asian family. As migrants and descendants of migrants, Asians share with all other migrants a sense of another place - a sense of the "ancestral homeland", which is often the source of another culture, language and faith.

Similarly, in Macbeth, the Witches are from 'another place' - the spirit world of trickery, witchcraft & prophecy. In our production, the Witches are played as Hijras. Hijras are centuries-old distinct communities of transsexual/transgender people living in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.

In India alone, there are estimated to be about 1 million Hijras. They have their own distinct rituals and culture. Vivacious and colourful, their presence at births and marriages is seen as a sign of good luck by the wider society. They believe themselves to have sacred powers, many tracing their ancestary to Ardh-Narishwar - the ancient Indian God who was half-man and half-woman. Proud of being a community on the borders of gender, they are happy to bless and curse in equal measure!

South Asian society as a whole tolerates these communities...and is wary of their percieved ability to prophecy and curse.

Classroom activity 1. INDIVIDUAL DIRECTORIAL WORK: If you were a director, how could you characterise the witches

without making them a stereotype? Can you think of people who are shunned in society?

2. INDIVIDUAL DESIGN WORK: Design a costume for a Hijra. Be careful not to confuse Hirjas

with drag queens.

3. GROUP DISCUSSION: What is the function of the witches, and why does Shakespeareopen the play with them? What is the significance of having the witches’ supernatural power in the play?

Photo credit: Declan Walsh, The Guardian http://souciant.com/2013/08/of-sarees-and-superstructures/

http://souciant.com/2013/08/of-sarees-and-superstructures/



SHAKESPEARE’S LIFE & WORKS

Year Shakespeare’s Life Works 1564 Shakespeare Born

1582 Shakespeare Married

1583 Birth of daughter Susanna The Queen's Company formed in London

1585 Birth of twins, Judith and Hamnet

1587-1592 Departure from Stratford Establishment in London as an actor/playwright

The Comedy of Errors; Titus Andronicus; The Taming of the Shrew; Henry VI, 1,2,3; Richard III

1593 Continues to work in London as an actor and playwright Venus and Adonis; Begins writing the Sonnets, probably completed by c.1597 or earlier; Two Gentlemen of Verona; Love's Labour's Lost

1594 Founding member of the Lord Chamberlain's Men The Rape of Lucrece

1594-1596 Prosperity and recognition as the leading London playwright

1596 Hamnet dies aged 11. Aged just 32 years old Shakespeare writes…..

A Midsummer Night's Dream; Romeo and Juliet; Richard IIl The Merchant of Venice

1597-1599 Purchases New Place, Stratford

1599 The Globe Theatre built on Bankside. Shakespeare is a shareholder and receives about 10% of the profits

Henry IV,1,2; The Merry Wives of Windsor; As You Like It; Much Ado About Nothing; Henry V; Julius Caesar

1603 The Lord Chamberlain's Men, now The King's Men, perform at court more than any other company

1600-1608 1601 Shakespeare's father dies

1608 Shakespeare's mother dies Twelfth Night; Hamlet; Troilus &

Cressida; All’s Well That Ends

Well; Measure for Measure;

Othello; King Lear; Macbeth;

Antony and Cleopatra; Coriolanus;

Timon of Athens

1609-1611 1609 Publication of the Sonnets Pericles Prince of Tyre,

Cymbeline; The Winter's Tale, The

Tempest

1623 April 23, 1616 Shakespeare dies and is buried at Holy Trinity Church, Stratford



SPEAKING SHAKESPEARE’S VERSE

Most characters in Shakespeare’s plays speak in a special rhythm. It is a pattern that is also found in poetry, especially in a type of poem called a sonnet.

The pattern is called an iambic pentameter. Speaking in the rhythm will help students' understanding of Shakespeare’s meaning.

To work out what that means, let’s split the words up. The first bit - iamb - means two beats, the first is light (or unstressed) and the second is heavy (stressed). It sounds like dee-dum. Try clapping it. A light beat and a heavy beat. That’s iambic.

The next bit - pentameter - has pent in it. What else has got pent in it? Pentagon? Pentangle? So you might have guessed that pentameter has something to do with five. The next part is meter. Well a meter measures things, the gas maybe or the amount of time you’ve paid to park the car. OK, so that gives us five measures of iamb. What does that mean? Well, it’s 5 dee-dums. Clap the rhythm as you speak.

Dee-dum dee-dum dee-dum dee-dum dee-dum

Classroom activity

1.Mark the stressed and unstressed syllables of this extract:

Then live, Macduff; what need I fear of thee? But yet I'll make assurance double sure, And take a bond of fate: thou shalt not live

2. Read out this extract. What is the effect on listeners?

Try a conversation in iambic pentameter:

Come in, sit down and make a cup of tea I don’t mind if I do, you’re very kind

Can you make up your own iambic pentameters?

Try speaking aloud this speech from Macbeth: you might find it helpful to highlight the iamb…..

Out, damned spot! out, I say!—One: two: why,

then, 'tis time to do't.—Hell is murky!—Fie, my

lord, fie! a soldier, and afeard? What need we

fear who knows it, when none can call our power to

account?—Yet who would have thought the old man

to have had so much blood in him.



Classroom activity

1. LANGUAGE ANALYSIS: You might have noticed that the punctuation breaks the iambic pentameter. What does this tell us about Lady Macbeth’s state of mind?

2. ACTING ALAYSIS: Watch these versions of the scene.Judi Dench: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dgbbtUbgcM and Kate Fleetwood: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Eb2t-fXD8E Note the actress’ body language, facial expression, eye contact, vocal pitch and dynamics. Who is she speaking to? Where are her thought changes?

3. PERFORMANCE: Work in groups to direct and perform this extract, bearing in mind the functionof the two other characters and her mental state. http://nfs.sparknotes.com/macbeth/page_180.html

4. Perform part of the scene to the rest of the class. Individually, write down what you liked aboutyour friend’s performance, and how they communicated the scene to the audience. Write down ways they could make their performance even better. Share your ideas.

Exhibition Panels – Black British & Asian Shakespeare by kind permission of the University of Warwick,

see page 24.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dgbbtUbgcM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Eb2t-fXD8E

http://nfs.sparknotes.com/macbeth/page_180.html



SHAKESPEARE’S LANGUAGE IN MACBETH

In preparation for the tour, Tara Arts undertook a word count of Macbeth. Every word in the play was counted to see how many times it occurred in the text. It revealed some fascinating results.

‘Love’ appears 26 times, only between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth

References to ‘Time’ appear the most – 241

‘Throne’ appears only 3 times

Classroom activity

1. The word ‘Throne’ is used only three times in the play. Is the play about Kingship or Ambition?

2. Why is Time important in the play?

3. What is the significance of only Macbeth and Lady Macbeth using the word 'Love'?

4. Analyse the meaning behind the following key quotations from Macbeth.

Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn, and cauldron bubble.

Fair is foul and foul is fair

Let not light see my black and deep desires

Look like th’ innocent flower, But be the serpent under’t

Had he not resembled My father and he slept, I had done’t

That which hath made them drunk Hath made me bold. What hath Quenched them then given me fire.

This is a sorry sight. (as he looks at his hands)

Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood Clean from my hand? No, this my hand will rather The multitudinous seas incarnadine, Making the green one red

It will have blood; they say, blood will have blood

But I must also feel it as a man

Yet I will try the last: before my body I throw my warlike shield: lay on, Macduff; And damn’d be him that first cries, ‘Hold, enough!’



CREATIVE TEAM & CAST BIOGRAPHIES

Director: Jatinder Verma

Jatinder Verma is co-founder and Artistic Director of Tara Arts. Most recently Jatinder directed Tara’s production of The Domestic Crusaders written by Wajahat Ali. In 2009 he directed Hanif Kureishi's The Black Album for the National Theatre and a UK Tour. He first worked at the National in 1989, with an acclaimed version of Molière's Tartuffe. In 2012 he directed the Tara Arts Christmas pantomime, Dick Whittington Goes Bollywood and Alex Wheatle's Uprising which toured the UK.

Designer: Claudia Mayer Claudia Mayer trained with Percy Harris at Motley and has worked freelance in opera, ballet and theatre. Work for Tara Arts includes: Miranda, Marriage of Figaro, An Enemy of the People, The Merchant of Venice, Journey to the West (a trilogy), A Ramayana Odyssey, The Domestic Crusaders and two large- scale events in Trafalgar Square.

Classroom activity

1. INDIVIDUAL WORK: Imagine you are directing Macbeth. Create a presentation, addressing the following:- Why do you think it’s an important play to perform?- What characters, ideas and themes in the play interest you?- How would you communicate these to an audience? (ie. set, lighting, costume)- Which historical period would you set your production in, and where would you set it?- Choose your cast from your class peers and/or well known actors and actresses. Who would you cast and why?



CAST of 9 actors including live music

Robert Mountfort

Character: MACBETH

Trained: RADA, where he won the Lilian Baylis Award

Shaheen Khan

Character: LADY MACBETH

Trained: Tara Arts

Classroom activity

1. GROUP DISCUSSION: How would you describe the relationship between Macbeth and LadyMacbeth?

2. Look closely at Act 1 Scene 7, where Lady Macbeth persuades Macbeth to kill Duncan. Whatstrategies do you think the actress playing Lady Macbeth should use on Macbeth? Read the scene in pairs, with a third person directing the characters on how to say the lines (ie. Angry, seductive)

3. What is Macbeth’s journey through the play? Create a timeline of his emotions.

Mitesh Soni

Character: BANQUO / Sergeant / Seyton / Chorus

Trained: Guildford School of Acting

Awards: 2012 Manchester Theatre Award- Best Ensemble- Arabian Nights.

Ralph Birtwell

Character: DUNCAN / First Witch / Doctor / Murderer / Chorus

Trained: LAMDA



Deven Modha

Character: MALCOLM / Second Witch / Fleance / Macduff’s son / Chorus

Trained: Birmingham School of Acting

Shalini Peiris

Character: LADY MACDUFF / Messenger-Servant-Attendant-Gentlewoman / Porter / Chorus

Trained: Arts Ed London

Umar Pasha

Character: MACDUFF / Murderer / chorus

Trained: Royal Conservatoire of Scotland

Awards: James Bridie Award for Best Actor 2013

John Afzal

Character: ROSS / Third Witch / Murderer / Chorus

Trained: Bretton Hall

Classroom activity

1. ROLE PLAY What is your favourite scene from Macbeth? Perform it in groups in class and talk aboutwhy it is significant to the play, and discuss what you think the character’s sub-text is.

2.INDIVIDUAL WORK Choose a character and create a profile for them: write down their attributes,their personal objectives, their internal and external conflicts, what other characters say about them, and what they say about themselves, what has happened to them in the past, where they’re from – everything that contributes to the character.

CHARACTER INTERVIEWING: each character should be ‘hot seated’ whilst other members of the group question the character they are playing.



WOULD YOU LIKE TO HAVE BEEN AN ACTOR IN SHAKESPEARE’S DAY?

Did you know that all the women in Shakespeare’s plays were played by young men or boys? In Macbeth, the Witches are played by both male and female actors. Unlike performing in a

modern English theatre, Shakespeare’s theatre, the Globe in London, was built with an open roof

so it could get very chilly! There were no electric lights or digital special effects.

The scenery was very basic so Shakespeare relied on his words to paint a picture for his audience.

When you were given your part to learn, it was written on a roll of parchment. It was too time- consuming to write out the whole play for each actor so you would just have your own role

written out (on a roll – get it!). You would learn your part and the cue, which would be the last

words spoken by the previous speaker, and you would have to listen really carefully to what was

being said to know when to speak.

There were about 26 actors in Shakespeare’s company at any one time. They would have been

employed in several different plays, possibly performing two or three different plays in the same

week. Could you have learnt all those lines?

The audience could be as big as 2,500 people. An

actor needed a loud voice to project the dialogue

to the whole audience. If the audience didn’t like

what they saw they would boo or pelt the stage

with oranges but if they did like the performance

they would cheer and clap wildly.

The Groundlings were audience members who

stood on the ground, often for 3 or 4 hours to

watch the performance. They were very close to

the actors on stage and would often call out, like

street theatre is today but very different from an

in-door theatre with a roof!

Drawing of Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre in

London.

Classroom activity Imagine you are an actor in Shakespeare’s Macbeth. (You will have to imagine you are all men or boys, sorry, but those male actors had to imagine they were women, so you may have to pretend to be a man pretending to be a woman!) Write a letter home explaining what part you play and what it’s like in Shakespeare’s company.



BE A THEATRE CRITIC - WRITING ABOUT PERFORMANCE

Theatre Critics write about plays they have seen at the theatre, they write reviews. These reviews often appear in newspapers such The Guardian, The Times and The Independent.

WRITING ABOUT THE PERFORMANCE You will need to justify the following: Why does a director make certain choices? How do the lighting, costume and set help to tell the story? Watch carefully and write notes after the play. These questions will help you:

THE STAGE Q: What can you see on the stage?

COSTUME Q: What colours and styles are being used? Q: What else do the costumes tell us about the characters?

LIGHTING

Q: What colours and shades of colour are being used?

Q: What levels of brightness are being used and why?

Q: When do the lights change?

THE PERFORMERS

Q: Which actors do you think were well-cast and why?

Q: Did main characters have a good on-stage relationship? How did their performance help you to understand the play?

Q: How do the actors use the set?

Q: How do the actors relate to the audience?

THE MUSIC

Q What did music make you think and feel?

AND LASTLY BUT MOST IMORTANTLY Q: What does the play make you think, feel, want to talk about?

REVIEW QUOTES FROM TARA ARTS’ MOST RECENT SHAKESPEARE THE TEMPEST

“A coherent, physically disciplined vision where the text is spoken with revealing clarity” The Guardian

“Robert Mountford is a majestic, vulnerable Prospero, one of the best in my long experience...

Never has the value of synthesising east and west been more ably demonstrated” Hexham Couran

Classroom activities

1. Write a short article on the production for a newspaper of your choice. When writing, comment on howthe actors support the themes of the piece, and how the set design, costumes, and lighting create atmosphere.

2. Create a news report for the BBC on Macbeth.



JOIN OUR NETWORKS & FOLLOW THE PRODUCTION ON TOUR

TaraArts

BlackTheatreLive

@Tara_Arts

@BlackTLive

SHAKESPEARE’S MACBETH 2015 DATES & VENUES

Wed 25 to Fri 27 February QUEENS HALL, HEXHAM Beaumont Street, Hexham, Northumberland, NE46 3LS Box Office: 01434 652477 Web: www.queenshall.co.uk

Tue 3 March LAWRENCE BATLEY THEATRE Queens Square, Queens Street, Huddersfield, HD1 2SP Box Office: 01484 430528 Web: www.thelbt.co.uk

Fri 6 and Sat 7 March THEATRE ROYAL MARGATE Addington Street, Margate, CT9 1PW Box Office: 01843 292795 Web: www.theatreroyalmargate.com

Tues 10 March BUXTON OPERA HOUSE Water Street, Buxton, Derbyshire, SK17 6XN Box Office: 0845 127 2190 Web: www.buxtonoperahouse.org.uk

Thurs 12 to Sat 14 March TALIESIN SWANSEA Taliesin Arts Centre, Swansea University, Singleton Park, Swansea, SA2 8PZ Box Office: 01792 60 20 60 Web: www.taliesinartscentre.co.uk

Tues 17 and Wed 18 March THE LIGHTHOUSE POOLE 21 Kingland Road, Poole, Dorset, BH15 1UG Box Office: 0844 406 8666 Web: www.lighthousepoole.co.uk

http://www.queenshall.co.uk/

http://www.thelbt.co.uk/

http://www.theatreroyalmargate.com/

http://www.buxtonoperahouse.org.uk/

http://www.taliesinartscentre.co.uk/

http://www.lighthousepoole.co.uk/



Fri 20 & Sat 21 March ARTSDEPOT 5 nether Street, Tally Ho Corner, North Finchley, London, N12 OGA Box Office 020 8369 5454 Web: https://www.artsdepot.co.uk/

Thurs 26 to Saturday 28 March STRATFORD CIRCUS Theatre Square, Stratford, E15 1BX Box Office: 0844 357 2625 Web: www.stratford-circus.com

Tues 7 to Sat 11 April WINDSOR THEATRE ROYAL 32 Thames Street, Windsor, Berkshire, SL4 1PS Box Office: 01753 853 888 Web: www.theatreroyalwindsor.co.uk

Tues 14 to Sat 18 April THEATRE ROYAL BURY ST EDMUNDS 6 Westgate, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, 1P33 1QR Box Office: 01284 769505 Web: www.theatreroyal.org

Tues 21 to Sat 25 April DERBY PLAYHOUSE 15 Theatre Walk, St Peter’s Quarter, Derby, DE1 2NF Box Office: 01332 59 39 39 Web: www.derbytheatre.co.uk

Shakespeare’s Birthday Sunday 26th April 2015

Tues 28 and Wed 29 April KEY THEATRE Embankment Road, Peterborough, PE1 1EF Box Office: 01733 207239 Web: www.vivacity-peterborough.com

Tues 5 to Sat 9 May HARROGATE THEATRE Oxford Street, Harrogate, North Yorkshire, HG1 1QF Box Office: 01423 502 116 Web: www.harrogatetheatre.co.uk

Launch season spring 2016

Dates TBC TARA THEATRE Box Office: 020 8333 4457 Web: www.tara-arts.com

https://www.artsdepot.co.uk/

http://www.stratford-circus.com/

http://www.theatreroyalwindsor.co.uk/

http://www.theatreroyal.org/

http://www.derbytheatre.co.uk/

http://www.vivacity-peterborough.com/

http://www.harrogatetheatre.co.uk/

http://www.tara-arts.com/



FURTHER RESOURCES & RESEARCH

We hope the production has inspired you and the students to learn more about Shakespeare and different cultures. Students are now encouraged to undertake their own research online and by visiting theatres and their archives, here are some useful pointers.

Tara Arts see our digital theatre archive. This archive has been supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund. http://tara-arts.com/show-archive

To discover other productions with Black and Asian actors and directors at the helm go to the University of Warwick University who have introduced British Black and Asian Shakespeare http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/arts/english/research/currentprojects/multiculturalshakespear e/ with

BBAShakespeare

Exhibition Panels – Black British & Asian Shakespeare by kind permission of the University of Warwick,

At some theatres on the tour we will present an exhibition with Warwick University, featuring the heritage of British Black and Asian artists who have made Shakespeare their own.

http://tara-arts.com/show-archive

http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/arts/english/research/currentprojects/multiculturalshakespeare/

http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/arts/english/research/currentprojects/multiculturalshakespeare/

https://twitter.com/BBAShakespeare



And of course

Shakespeare’s Globe http://www.shakespearesglobe.com/

Sparknotes http://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/macbeth/

Digital Theatre http://www.digitaltheatre.com/

Royal Shakespeare Company http://www.rsc.org.uk/

Shakespeare Schools Festival http://www.ssf.uk.com/

http://www.shakespearesglobe.com/

http://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/macbeth/

http://www.digitaltheatre.com/

http://www.rsc.org.uk/

http://www.ssf.uk.com/



FEEDBACK FORM

If you have found this pack useful, please take a moment to give us your feedback.

What year group are your pupils in?

Which pages did you use with your pupils after the TARA performance?

Which resources will you use in future schemes of work?

Was the level of this pack appropriate for your pupils? (If no, explain how we could have made it better).

Is there any other information you would have liked, in order to enhance your students’ experience of the Tara Arts performance?

Any other comments?

Please return to Tara Arts at the address/fax or email below: Freepost RRKJ-GLAR-ZCEG Tara Arts 356 Garratt Lane London SW18 4ES

shakespeare’s macbeth - tara-arts arts... · macbeth’s real name was mac bethad mac findlaich...

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