Act 1 Scene 1: Witches

• EXERCISE 1: Setting

  • Begin with students standing in a semi-circle and ask them to make a freeze frame with their bodies showing the following:  

  A tree 
  A bird 
  Someone happy 
  Someone sad 
  A king  
  A soldier 

  • Ensure students are facing the screen with a clear open acting space in front of them and show slide (dark forest) from the gallery. (This image is used for the backdrop of the witches film in Exercise 4) 
  • Ask: What can you see?  / What kind of creatures might live here? 
  • As students make suggestions, ask them to step forward into the acting space to make a freeze frame of their suggestion - for example: a tree, a bird, a rock. 
  • Gradually build up the image to involve as many students as possible - adding more trees is always an option.  
  • Explain that you are going to walk through the space, tapping the students on the shoulder. When you tap them, they should ‘come alive’ and move in the manner of the object/creature they are representing. 
  • After a few moments of bringing the image to life, praise students’ actions and ask them to relax. If you are moving straight into Exercise 2, they can stay in their positions ready to develop the image further. 

• EXERCISE 2: Storm

  • Remind students of the image created in Exercise 1 and ask: What do you think it feels like in this place we created? Friendly or scary? Warm or cold?…. 
  • Explain that a storm is approaching, beginning with a wind. Encourage all students to sway gently in the wind. 
  • Next add in rain, encouraging students to gently tap their arms, heads and bodies with their fingertips to show rain. 
  • Encourage the students to make the wind and rain stronger as the storm gets closer. 
  • Ask: What else might we see, feel or hear in a storm? / How might the creatures in the forest respond to the storm? 
  • Take suggestions (thunder, lightning, howls, hoots, etc.) and assign responsibility for performing those elements. For example, a student playing a wolf in the image might howl; a bird might fly to the shelter of a tree; a bush might be blown over. Other students can show signs or gestures for thunder and lightning. Everyone can show the wind and rain, adding sounds if they want to. 
  • Explain that you will ‘conduct’ the storm, starting slowly, pointing to the different elements to bring them in and making the storm increasingly forceful by raising your hands for more and lowering them for less. You might like to give students the opportunity to try conducting after you have modelled it. 
  • Ask: How do you think it feels to be in this place in this weather? 
  • Tell the students that there are three people out in the storm and ask: What might they be doing? 

• EXERCISE 3: The Weird Sisters

  • Remind students of the setting and the storm they created and of the three people out in the storm. Tell students that these three people are sisters (see slide in gallery) 
  • Organise students into groups of three and ask them to make a freeze frame of ‘sisters’ 
  • Tell students that the sisters have strange powers and are sometimes called the ‘the weird sisters’ (see slide in gallery). Ask students to adjust their freeze-frames to show ‘the weird sisters’. 
  • Tell students that these weird sisters are often called ‘witches’ (see slide in gallery). Ask: What might three witches be doing out in this storm? 
  • Invite students to show you their ideas by adjusting their freeze-frames to show ‘the witches’. Discuss the different ideas of witches shown. 
  • Tell the students that in Shakespeare’s time, people believed in ‘weird women’ or witches that could call storms and tell the future. Explain that we meet the three witches at the start of a play written by Shakespeare but that he doesn’t say much about what they look like. This means that every time the play is staged, the witches look different.  
  • Show students images from the gallery (slide) as examples of how the witches have looked in different productions of the play. 
  • Ask students in pairs to decide which witches they think look most interesting and be ready to share their decisions and reasons with the whole class. 
  • Explain that the students will meet another version of the three witches in a film in the next exercise. Play Witches Dramatis Personae Video from the gallery. This introduces the witches with their sign name and an image of the actors playing them in later videos. 

• EXERCISE 4: The Witches’ Plans

  • Remind students of the three witches in the storm and explain they will now watch three actors playing these witches. Ask them to watch carefully to see if they can work out what the witches are planning to do. 
  • Play Witches Video(s) from the BSL or ASL gallery. The BSL gallery also contains versions in SSE and VS.
  • Discuss with students what they have learnt about the witches and their plans. 
  • Draw out from students the key points, that the witches are planning to meet again after a battle to talk to someone called Macbeth.
  • Discuss with students what they thought about the films.
  • Ask: What did you enjoy? What did you think worked well about what the actors did? How might you improve on what they did? 
  • Explain that they are now going to create their own versions of this scene.  Organise them into groups of three.  
  • Show the text from the gallery (slide) and/or have print outs ready (see PDF Resources).
  • Give students time to create their own versions of this scene using any form of expression: BSL, SSE, VS, ASL, spoken words, or any combination of these.   
  • Share these performances and encourage students to comment on what worked well in other groups’ performances. 

• EXERCISE 5: Antithesis - ‘fair is foul’

  • Revisit the lines spoken by the witches (slide) and ask: Why do you think the witches speak the last lines together? Perhaps it’s a song, chant or spell? Perhaps something that gives them a sense of togetherness, or a sense of their joint power? The words are ambiguous so can give a sense of mystery.  
  • Discuss with students what they associate with ‘fair’ and with ‘foul’ and ask if they remember any of the ways in which the actors signed these words in the films. 
  • Organise students into small groups to create a frozen image showing ‘fair’ and another for ‘foul’. 
  • Look at each of these pairs of images in turn and comment on any similarities and differences that bring out the variety of associations we can make with fair and foul. 
  • Explain that these concepts – fair and foul – are the opposite of one another and when opposite ideas are written close together, as they are in the witches’ lines, it is called antithesis. Show the slide that says antithesis in the gallery. Because these words are opposites, we don’t know whether the witches’ plans are good or bad - fair or foul. 
  • Discuss with students why Shakespeare might start his play with these weird witches and their strange words. Perhaps they grab the audience’s attention? Perhaps they create a mysterious atmosphere? Perhaps they create tension as we wonder what is going on? Perhaps they create curiosity about the storm and the battle and Macbeth? 

• EXERCISE 6: Antithesis - ‘lost and won’

  • Remind students of the meaning of antithesis and ask them to take another look at the edited text (slide) of the scene and look for another example of ‘antithesis’.  
  • When they land on ‘lost and won’, ask students as a whole group to show you a frozen image of soldiers who have lost a battle and then to adapt to soldiers who have won a battle.  
  • Ask: How can a battle be lost and won? Encourage students to understand that although it sounds mysterious, there are two sides in any battle: winners and losers. 
  • Organise students into two halves: one half are the winners and the other half are the losers. Ask students to create a group freeze frame showing this battle that is lost and won. 
  • Tell students that this battle the witches describe is between Norway and Scotland and show them the map (slide) from the gallery. 

• EXERCISE 7: Consolidation

  • Ask students in pairs to answer the following questions and to give a word or phrase in the text that supports their answer. The questions can be found as the last image in the gallery (slide). 

  When are the witches/ weird sisters meeting again? (‘When the hurly-burly’s done / When the battle’s lost and won’) 

  Where are they meeting? (’Upon the heath’) 

  Who are they meeting? (‘There to meet with Macbeth’) 

  • Discuss who Macbeth might be. Perhaps someone fighting in the battle? Or running away from the battle? Or another witch? 

Act 1 Scene 1: Warriors

• EXERCISE 1: Warriors

  • Follow the leader 
    
    Model marching on the spot and ask students to join in. 
    
    Ask them to keep marching until you salute. They are then to stop, stand to attention and salute back.  
    
    When you lower your salute, they go back to marching. Repeat until students are focused and ready to stop and start on your signal. 
    
    Explain that soldiers have to be very disciplined, follow their leader, and work together.  
    
    Challenge students to jump on the spot at exactly the same time you jump. 
    
    Assign one student to be the leader and play ‘follow the leader’ where the other students copy the leader’s movements. Encourage the lead student to use clear gestures and movements that soldiers might do - for example, marching, standing to attention, crouching low, pointing, looking through binoculars… 

   

  • Wielding a sword 
    
    Explain that this story was written about events that happened a long time ago and so the soldiers in the story are warriors who fight with big, heavy broadswords. 
    
    Mime lifting this heavy sword with two hands and encourage students to copy. 
    
    Explain that you are going to play a game that the warriors use as a training exercise to make them strong and disciplined at fighting in battles. 

   

  • Warriors’ training exercise 
    
    Ask all students to stand in a circle so that everyone can see everyone else. 
    
    Clasp both your hands together with index fingers pointing outwards and raise them above your head as though holding a sword. Bring your hands down quickly to point at someone across the circle. Model this with a Teaching Assistant if possible. 
    
    Tell that person to copy your movement and point to someone else. Keep going around the circle until everyone has tried this. 
    
    Now model a sideways swipe with your ‘sword’ to the right. Encourage students to copy this movement so that everyone swipes to the right around the circle 
    
    Then do the same, swiping to the left 
    
    Now put these actions together in a further layer. When one warrior points their sword at another, the two flanking warriors must be ready. As a warrior raises their sword above their head, the two flanking warriors aim their swords sideways, one to the left and one to the right, swiping towards the belly of the middle warrior. They must not touch the middle warrior and must try to move at the same time. The aim of the exercise is to find a clear rhythm of movements around the circle. This experience of rhythm supports the introduction of iambic pentameter later in this section. 
    
    As students become more familiar with this game, you can introduce more incentive. If a student gets a movement wrong, they are out and sit down. They can then help judge the movements of others. Those left in the game continue to play with a smaller circle until only two students are left as the winners. 

• EXERCISE 2: Thanes and Kings

  • Remind students about the witches and ask: Who were the witches planning to meet? (Macbeth) 
  • When did they plan to meet him? (After the battle - when it has been ‘lost and won’) 
  • Explain that they are going to meet Macbeth and the leaders of the battle the witches spoke about. 
    
    
    Macbeth 
  • Play Macbeth Dramatis Personae Video from the gallery. This introduces Macbeth with his sign name and an image of the actor playing Macbeth in later videos.  
  • Explain that ‘Macbeth’ is a Scottish warrior and is ‘Thane of Glamis’. Play Macbeth Thane of Glamis Dramatis Personae Video. Explain that a Thane is a Lord or ruler.  Glamis is a place in Scotland and Macbeth serves the King of Scotland. Macbeth is the ruler of a place in Scotland called Glamis. 
  • Ask all students to try out Macbeth’s sign name and repeat the film as needed.
    
    
    Banquo  
  • Play Banquo Dramatis Personae Video from the gallery. This introduces Banquo with his sign name and an image of the actor playing him in later videos. 
  • Explain that Banquo is also a thane. He is a friend of Macbeth’s and supports him in the battle. 
  • Ask all students to try out Banquo’s sign name and repeat the film as needed. 
    
    
    Thane of Ross 
  • Play Thane of Ross Dramatis Personae Video from the gallery. This introduces the Thane of Ross with his sign name and an image of the actor playing him in later videos. 
  • Explain that the Thane of Ross is another Scottish Thane.
  • Ask all students to try out the Thane of Ross’s sign name and repeat the film as needed. 
    
    
    Thane of Cawdor 
  • Play Thane of Cawdor Dramatis Personae Video from the gallery. This introduces the Thane Cawdor with his sign name and an illustration of him. 
  • Explain that the Thane of Cawdor is another Scottish Thane 
  • Ask all students to try out the Thane of Cawdor’s sign name and repeat the film as needed. 
    
    
    King of Norway 
  • Play King Norway Dramatis Personae Video from the gallery. This introduces the King of Norway with his sign name and an illustration of him. 
  • Explain that the King of Norway has invaded Scotland and this is why the battle is about to take place. 
  • Ask all students to try out the sign name for the King of Norway and repeat the film as needed.

• EXERCISE 3: The Battle (including optional iambic pentameter exercises)

  • NB If you do not want to work with iambic pentameter, follow instructions for ‘Building armies’ and ‘Fighting the battle’ only. 
    
    
    Introducing iambic pentameter 
  • Explain that these warriors also ride horses. Mime getting on a horse and galloping on the spot. Encourage students to copy. 
  • Remind students that warriors have to be very disciplined, perhaps even gallop in time together. Model galloping to the rhythm of iambic pentameter (de-dum, de-dum, de-dum, de-dum, de-dum). Encourage students to join you and keep in time to the rhythm. 
  • Explain that in battles, armies also carry flags. Mime waving a flag and encourage students to copy, again waving the flags to the rhythm of iambic pentameter. 
  • Explain that all warriors feel their hearts beating fast as they get ready to fight in a battle. Model beating the rhythm of the heart / iambic pentameter on your chest with one hand and encourage students to copy. 
  • Tell students that this rhythm is called IAMBIC PENTAMETER (slide) and that the play is written with lines that fit this rhythm. You might want to add that this was a convention of the time and that the rhythm also helps actors learn their lines. 
    
    
    Building armies 
  • Put signs for Macbeth’s army, Cawdor’s army and Norway’s army (pdfs in Resources list) on three different walls of the space. 
  • Organise students to stand by one of the three signs to form each army. Ensure Macbeth’s army is bigger than the other two.  
  • Assign leaders of each army as follows:

  Macbeth, supported by Banquo and Ross, commands a large army for Scotland 

  The Thane of Cawdor commands a smaller Scottish army 

  The King of Norway commands the Norwegian army 

  • Give the king a crown and the other leaders a sash with the name of their character. With each leader recap the sign names established above in Exercise 2. 
  • Show students the map from the gallery with Fife marked (slide) and tell them that these three armies are all marching to battle and will meet in Fife.  
  • Ask students to show you a freeze frame of their army ready to fight. 
    
    
    
    Marching to battle 
  • Remind students of the discipline needed by warriors in an army. Recap Exercise 1 by asking all students to march on the spot and stop and salute when you salute them. Ask the leaders of each army: Macbeth, Cawdor and Norway, to take on this role for their army: when they salute, their army stops marching and salutes back. 
  • Next recap the exercise on iambic pentameter above, modelling galloping, flag waving and heartbeat in time with the rhythm and encourage students to join you. 
  • Assign each army one of these special actions: 

  Assign Macbeth and his army the action of galloping 

  Assign the King of Norway and his followers the action of waving a flag or banner 

  Assign Cawdor and his army the action of the heartbeat.  

  • Allow each group time to practise their action. They should follow their leader to keep time and find the rhythm together. They can then practise moving to the centre of the room whilst doing their action. 

  • Assign each army a line of text to match their actions (slide): 

  Macbeth: ’For Brave Macbeth, well he deserves that name’ 
  
  Norway: ’Where the Norwegian banners flout the sky’ 
  
  Cawdor: ’Assisted by that most disloyal traitor’.   

  • Model speaking the lines in iambic pentameter (de-dum, de-dum, de-dum, de-dum, de-dum) and then repeat, encouraging students to join in with you.  
  • Ask everyone to do their action and encourage those comfortable with speaking to say their group’s line at the same time. 
  • Discuss with students what each line means. Draw out that:  

  Macbeth is described as brave, and others seem to admire him for his bravery. Perhaps his warriors are proud to follow him. Perhaps they are scared he will lead them into danger? 

  Norway’s army have many banners (flags). Perhaps this suggests they are confident and proud? Perhaps they are unsure what to expect from the Scots? 

  Cawdor’s line needs more unpicking. What is a traitor? What does disloyal mean? As a Scottish Thane, Cawdor should be fighting for Scotland against Norway. But if he is a ‘disloyal traitor’ that means he is going to fight for Norway against Scotland. How do his followers feel? Perhaps happy as they have been promised a reward? Perhaps guilty as they are fighting against fellow Scots? 

  • Ask each army in turn to show their action and speak their line and then to freeze at the end, with each warrior individually showing how they feel about fighting in this battle. 
  • Then ask them to show you how they want to appear to their enemies. Discuss any changes, for example, if someone appeared scared before, do they now look brave? Why might warriors need to look brave and fierce to their enemies? 
  • Tell them they will perform their action and speak their line as they move to Fife (the centre of the space). When they arrive, they freeze showing they are ready to fight. Explain that on your cue they should move towards Fife, trying to show they are stronger than the other armies (which might mean bigger actions, louder voices, fiercer expressions) 
  • Cue one group at a time as a practice: first Macbeth’s army, then Norway’s army, then Cawdor’s army.  
  • Ask students to repeat their journey to the battle at Fife but this time everyone will move at the same time and end in a frozen image ready to fight. 
    
    
    Fighting the battle 
  • If you completed ‘Marching to battle’ you can ask students to return to their roles and their places in the final frozen image. If you are picking up from ‘Building armies’, ask the students to return to the frozen image at the end of that section. 
  • Next, ask the armies to march into two lines facing each other.  
  • Ask: Which side should Cawdor’s army line up with? Remind them (or explain if you did not complete ’Marching to battle’) that Cawdor is a ‘disloyal traitor’ and betrays his fellow Scots to fight with Norway. 
  • Ask Macbeth’s army to show how they feel about this disloyal traitor joining the Norwegian army. 
  • Ask Norway’s army to show how they feel as Cawdor’s army joins their line. 
  • Introduce a drum and tell students that they are going to make four battle moves, which they will perform after each drum beat. Explain you will make a big movement of striking the drum and they should watch or listen for that cue.  
  • Remind them of the ‘Warrior Training’ exercise and ask all students to raise their arms with their hands grasped and index fingers pointing as their swords. Remind them they can swipe down, left or right. Model a possible sequence of battle moves: swipe, freeze, swipe, freeze, swipe, freeze, swipe, freeze. 
  • Beat the drum slowly four times to allow students to practise their moves. Ensure the movement of banging the drum is big enough to see for students who cannot hear the beat. 
  • Now, add a final fifth move: the Scottish army’s action should indicate victory - they have won the battle. The Norwegian army’s action should indicate defeat - they have lost the battle.  
  • Practise this last action, then put the sequence together with the five moves for the battle

• EXERCISE 4: The Witches’ view of the battle

  • Ask: Who described a battle that would be ‘lost and won’? (The Witches) 
  • Show the questions from the gallery (slide) and remind students of these questions (from Exercise 7 in Act 1 Scene 1) 

  When are the witches/ weird sisters meeting again? (‘When the hurly-burly’s done / When the battle’s lost and won’) 
  
  Where are they meeting? (’Upon the heath’) 
  
  Who are they meeting?  (‘There to meet with Macbeth’) 

  • Discuss any further thoughts about why the witches might want to meet Macbeth. 
  • Suggest that the witches have been watching the battle and ask students to write a short description of the battle from the point of view of one of the witches. 
  • You could offer them sentence starters such as (slide): 

  My sisters and I… 
  
  I could see Macbeth… 
  
  We watched the Thane of Cawdor… 
  
  When the battle ended… 

• EXERCISE 1: Status

  • Ask all students to stand as if they were a king. Ask them to walk as a king, taking seven steps, then return to their place in the circle. Share ideas about how a king stands and walks from what they have done. 
  • Ask all students to stand as if they were a servant. Ask them to walk as a servant, taking seven steps, then return to their place in the circle. Share ideas about how a servant stands and walks from what they have done.  
  • Ask students in pairs to show a freeze frame of a king and a servant. Discuss how we recognise which is which. Perhaps the king stands taller and takes up more space? Perhaps the servant is more crouched and looking at the king? Encourage them to understand the king has higher status and the body language of both the servant and king help us recognise this. 
  • Next, remind students of the battle created in the last session and ask all students to show you a warrior holding their sword on that battlefield. 
  • Ask students if they remember the word ‘thane’ and ask: What does thane mean? (leader or lord) Which characters have we met before who have the title ‘thane’? (Macbeth, Banquo, Ross, Cawdor) 
  • Now ask pairs to show two warriors: A is a thane and B is an ordinary soldier. How can we tell which is which? Encourage them to show the thane having higher status as they did with the king.  
  • Ask four students to stand in a line: A is a king, B is a servant, C is a thane, D is an ordinary soldier. Discuss who has the highest status and ask the students watching to say in what order these characters should stand to show highest to lowest status. This will probably be king, thane, soldier, servant, but they may have other ideas.  
  • Ask: Who have we met who is both a king and a warrior? (The King of Norway) Show again the video of the King of Norway’s sign name and image if useful (King of Norway Dramatis Personae Video). 
  • Explain that we are now going to meet the King of Scotland. He has not been fighting in the battle, like Norway, but has been waiting to find out if his side won. 

• EXERCISE 2: Duncan’s Court

  • Explain that the King of Scotland, King Duncan is waiting for news of the battle against the invading army from Norway.  
  • Play King Duncan Dramatis Personae Video from the gallery. This introduces King Duncan with his sign name and an illustration of him. Ask all students to try out Duncan’s sign name and repeat the film as needed. 
  • Assign one student to be King Duncan and give them the crown of Scotland. Invite ‘Duncan’ into the acting space where you have placed a chair and ask them to sit as a king on his throne. 
  • Ask: Who else might be with the king? Perhaps guards, servants, family, advisors… 
  • Invite students into the acting space to join the king and become the character they suggest. Encourage them to build an image of the court considering where and how they stand by thinking about their status and their relationship to others in the image.  
  • Ensure that family are mentioned and explain that King Duncan has two sons: Malcolm and Donalbain.  
  • Play Malcolm Dramatis Personae Video from the gallery. This introduces Malcolm with his sign name and an illustration of him. Ask all students to try out Malcolm’s sign name and repeat the film as needed. 
  • Assign one student to be Malcolm in the image and give them a sash. 
  • Play Donalbain Dramatis Personae Video from the gallery. This introduces Donalbain with his sign name and an illustration of him. Ask all students to try out Donalbain’s sign name and repeat the film as needed. 
  • Assign one student to be Donalbain in the image and give them a sash. 
  • Ensure advisors or counsellors are mentioned and explain that the Thane of Lennox is with the king as an advisor.   
  • Play Lennox Dramatis Personae Video from the gallery. This introduces Lennox with his sign name and an illustration of him. Ask all students to try out Lennox’s sign name and repeat the film as needed.
  • Assign one student to be Lennox in the image and give them a sash. 
  • Ask all students in the court to now show a freeze-frame of: ‘Waiting for news of the battle’. 

• EXERCISE 3: News from the battle

  • Remind students of King Duncan’s court and recreate the image of the court including King Duncan wearing his crown and Malcolm and Donalbain wearing their sashes. 

  • Ask students if they remember the Thane of Ross. (He fought with Macbeth against the Norwegian army and was introduced in Exercise 2 of 1.1:Warriors). Play Ross Dramatis Personae Video from the gallery to remind them. Ask all students to repeat Ross’s sign name.

  • Assign one student to be the Thane of Ross and give them a ‘message’ to deliver to the king. This message is a copy of the ‘battle message’ (slide and pdf).  

  • Explain that Ross has just ridden fast to the king’s court with news from the battle between Scotland and Norway. Ask ‘Ross’ to enter the court as though exhausted from his journey, bow to the king and pass over his message.   
  • Ask others in the court scene to react to Ross’s entrance. Perhaps excited to hear news? Perhaps shocked at how tired he looks? 
  • Next organise all students into small groups and ensure each group has a copy of the ‘battle message’ and pens. 
  • Ask each group to discuss what they think the message is. Ask them to write a caption for each picture in the space provided. 
  • After allowing time for this, ask groups to share their ideas with the whole class. Ensure the key facts emerge from this discussion that: the Thane of Cawdor was a traitor and fought with the King of Norway, but Macbeth’s army still won the battle. 
  • Ask: What should King Duncan do about the disloyal traitor, the Thane of Cawdor?  
  • Discuss ideas then show students what King Duncan says to Ross (slide) 

  ‘Of Cawdor - go pronounce his present death 
  
  And with his former title greet Macbeth’ 
  
  Model speaking this line aloud and then encourage students to speak it with you.  

  • Discuss what Duncan is saying (that Cawdor must die and Macbeth will be rewarded with Cawdor’s title, which also means his lands and wealth). You might want to encourage students to notice that these lines fit the iambic pentameter rhythm.  
  • Give the Thane of Cawdor’s sash to the student playing Duncan and ask them to say these lines to ‘Ross’ and hand him the sash. ‘Duncan’ can read aloud the lines or put them into their own words or signs. 
  • Show Ross’s line (slide). Ask ‘Ross’ to bow to the king, then read aloud or sign: ‘I’ll see it done’.  
  • Show Duncan’s next line (slide): ‘What he hath lost, noble Macbeth hath won’. 
  • Ask: What has been lost? What has Macbeth won? (Cawdor has lost his title and his life. Macbeth has won that title). Where have we come across these opposites of lost and won before? Remind them of the witches’ line: ’When the battle’s lost and won’. Remind them that this is called antithesis. 
  • Ask Duncan to read aloud or sign this line.  
  • Next ask if anyone remembers Macbeth’s current title (Thane of Glamis).  
  • Then ask: Who knows that Macbeth is now Thane of Cawdor as well as Thane of Glamis? Draw out that everyone at the court knows this but Macbeth does not know it yet. Also, importantly, the audience watching the play know it because they have seen Duncan decide to make Macbeth Thane of Cawdor.  
  • Explain that when the audience know something that one of the characters does not, it is called dramatic irony (slide).
  • You might want to discuss other examples of what the audience know that the characters do not - for example, that the witches have planned to meet Macbeth. 

• EXERCISE 1: The Witches speak to Macbeth

  • Ask students to get into pairs as Macbeth and Banquo and discuss how they might feel as they are heading home after the battle: happy, relieved, tired, victorious?  
  • Ask students to show a freeze frame of how Macbeth and Banquo feel and to share these with the class. Note the different versions of Macbeth and Banquo you see. 
  • Ask: Who was planning to meet Macbeth after the battle? (The Witches).
  • Tell students that Macbeth and Banquo suddenly see the witches, who then speak to them.
  • Play Witches Video(s) 1 from the gallery. In these films we see the witches speak to us as if we are Macbeth and Banquo. They greet Macbeth as Thane of Glamis.
  • Discuss what Macbeth and Banquo might be thinking. Perhaps: who are these people? What are they doing here? What do they want? Why are they acting so strangely?
  • Ask: Is Macbeth Thane of Glamis? (Yes)
  • Play Witches Video(s) 2 from the gallery. In these films we see the witches greet Macbeth as Thane of Cawdor.
  • Ask: Is Macbeth Thane of Cawdor? (Yes, but he doesn’t know that yet and nor does Banquo).
  • Discuss what Macbeth and Banquo might be thinking now and then invite the Macbeth and Banquo pairs to show a freeze-frame of how they feel now. Perhaps confused, anxious, proud, scared, excited?
  • Play Witches Video(s) 3 from the gallery. In this video we see the witches greet Macbeth as ‘King hereafter’.
  • Discuss what Macbeth and Banquo might be thinking now and ask students to show a freeze-frame of how Banquo and Macbeth feel having heard all three greetings from the witches. Perhaps even more confused, anxious, proud, scared, excited?

• EXERCISE 2: The Witches speak to Banquo

  • Ask students to get into pairs as Macbeth and Banquo and to recap what the witches said to Macbeth.  
  • Discuss how Macbeth and Banquo feel and draw out from students that perhaps Banquo might want to know if the witches have anything to say to him.  
  • Play Witches Video(s) 4 from the gallery. In these films we see the witches speak to Banquo as ‘lesser than Macbeth and greater’.  
  • Discuss how someone can be ‘lesser’ and ‘greater’. What might this mean? 
  • Remind students that pairs of opposites like this are called antithesis - like the witches’ lines about the battle lost and won and the line about fair is foul. 
  • Play Witches Video(s) 5 from the gallery. In this video we see the witches speak to Banquo as ‘not so happy, yet much happier’.   
  • Discuss how someone can be ‘not so happy’ and ‘much happier’. Note again that this is antithesis and discuss why the witches might use antithesis so much. Does it make them sound mysterious? Do they want to confuse Macbeth and Banquo or maybe make them think harder? 
  • Play Witches Video(s) 6 from the gallery. In these films we see the witches tell Banquo ‘thou shalt get kings though thou be none’. Discuss what this might mean, ensuring that students understand that the witches are telling Banquo that his children will be kings but that he will not be a king himself. 
  • Ask students to show a freeze-frame of how Macbeth and Banquo feel now. Perhaps confused, scared, excited, suspicious of each other? 
  • Discuss the following questions: (slide) 

  What do you think about what the witches have said? Will it all come true?  

  How do you think Macbeth could become king? 

  How do you think Banquo’s children could become kings? 

• EXERCISE 3: News from the king

  • Choose one Macbeth and Banquo pair and give them sashes  
  • Explain that you will play Ross and put on the ‘Thane of Ross’ sash. 
  • As ‘Ross’, enters, he greets Macbeth and Banquo and gives them a message from the king by saying/signing:  

  Macbeth, the king is very pleased with you. 
  
  He is very happy that the Scottish army has defeated the Norwegian army  
  
  You fought well in the battle. 
  
  The king is very angry with the Thane of Cawdor. 
  
  He will be executed for his disloyalty 
  
  As a reward for your bravery and leadership, the king has made you the new Thane of Cawdor.  
  
  Congratulations, Macbeth, Thane of Glamis AND Thane of Cawdor.   

  • Give to Macbeth the Thane of Cawdor sash.  
  • Discuss with all students how Macbeth and Banquo might feel now.
  • Ask the selected Macbeth and Banquo pair to show a freeze frame of how they feel, choosing from the suggestions made by the other students. 

• EXERCISE 4: Creating a Soliloquy

  • Give each student a copy of the sentence starters (see pdf). Ask them to complete the lines as either Macbeth or Banquo. They can write or draw their response.

  I feel…. 
  
  I want…. 
  
  I will…. 

  • Explain to students that they will now create a speech together that their character might say to the audience at this point in the play. This is called a soliloquy (slide).  
  • Organise the Macbeths into one or two groups and do the same with the Banquos.  
  • Ask each group to share all their lines and then to select a maximum of ten lines they think seem best. Encourage them to choose at least one line from each person to promote joint ownership. 
  • Next, ask each group to order their lines to make a speech. They decide on the order they think works best.  
  • Ask each group to nominate one person as their Macbeth or Banquo to read out/sign their speech.  
  • Discuss what worked well about each speech and what could make it even better. What more have we learned about how Macbeth and Banquo might feel?  
  • You may want to record a version of each speech - either a paper version to display or a video. 

• EXERCISE 5: Writing a letter home

  • Tell the students that Macbeth and Banquo still have a long way to go before they get home. First they must visit King Duncan, who praises them for their bravery in the battle. As they rest for the night, they each sit alone and think over all the events of the day. They also think about how much they look forward to getting home and seeing their wives.  
  • Ask students to imagine they are either Macbeth or Banquo and write a letter to their wife. Display starter suggestions (slide) and/or give out copies of the pdf. Suggest the letter should include:

  Some description of the battle

  What happened when you met the witches 

  How you felt about the witches and what they said 

  What you want to do about what the witches said

  • If setting as a homework task you might want to provide students with a copy of the soliloquies in Exercise 4 above to help them. 

• EXERCISE 1: Show how you feel?

  • Ask students to work in pairs A and B. For each round below, students alternate between being a statue and being the sculptor of the statue. The statue lets the sculptor move them gently into a position and follows the instructions the sculptor gives them to move their face. Model this with another adult, or confident student, by making a statue of ‘Someone who is angry’.
  • Explain that each sculptor has 30 seconds to make their partner into a statue. After each round, encourage students to look at each other’s statues and comment on how we can tell how someone feels. 

  Ask A to make B into a statue of: ‘Someone who has received really good news’ 
  
  Ask B to make A into a statue of; ‘Someone who has received really bad news’ 
  
  Ask A to make B into a statue of: ‘Someone who has seen something really disgusting’ 
  
  Ask B to make A into a statue of: ‘Someone who has seen something really scary’ 

  • Next, explain to students that they are now both sculptor and statue. They will make a pair of statues where A shows how someone looks on the outside, while B shows how that person really feels on the inside. Model this with another adult, or confident student, by making two statues for: ‘Someone performing in the school play in front of a hall full of people’. Perhaps the first statue looks calm and confident while the second statue looks really scared. 
  • Give students 30 seconds to make their paired statues. After each round, encourage students to look at each other’s statues and to comment on the difference between how someone might look on the outside and what they feel inside. 
  • Ask students to try these: 

  ‘Someone who has just been given a really boring birthday present from their grandparents’ 
  
  ‘Someone who is meeting a very important visitor who smells bad’ 
  
  ‘Someone who has just spilt chocolate milkshake all over their friend’s shirt’ 

  • Next organise students into small groups and ask them to think of another situation where someone might look different on the outside to how they feel inside. Ask them to make a group statue or freeze frame of this situation and share these with the whole group. Perhaps they show how one person feels on the outside and then variations of how they feel on the inside. Perhaps they show a situation between two people and how each looks on the outside and feels inside. 

• EXERCISE 2: Meeting Lady Macbeth

  • If you completed Exercise 5 in Act 1 Scenes 3-4, remind students of the letters they wrote as Macbeth and Banquo to their wives. You might like to invite a few students to read aloud or sign their letters.
  • Explain that they will now meet Macbeth’s wife, Lady Macbeth. 

  • Play Lady Macbeth Dramatis Personae Video. This introduces Lady Macbeth with her sign name and an image of the actor who will play her in later films. Ask all students to try out Lady Macbeth’s sign name and repeat the film as needed. 

  • Tell students that Lady Macbeth and Macbeth live in a castle in Inverness and show Inverness on the map (slide). 

  • Explain to students that Lady Macbeth has received a letter from Macbeth (like the one they wrote). In the letter, Macbeth tells his wife about meeting the witches and what they told him and Banquo.  

  • Discuss what Lady Macbeth might think about this strange story. Perhaps she thinks it is a joke? Perhaps she is scared that her husband has met witches? Perhaps she is pleased and wants him to be king? 

  • Tell students that we are now going to find out what Lady Macbeth says after reading the letter.  

  • Play Lady Macbeth Video(s) from the gallery. The BSL gallery also contains versions in SSE and VS. 

  • Display the text from the film (slide). Go through the speech, phrase by phrase, checking understanding:  

  To help them unlock the meaning, explain that ‘thou’ and ‘thee’ mean you, ‘thy’ means your, ‘art’ means are and ‘shalt’ means shall or will.  

  Remind them that Macbeth is Thane of Glamis and Thane of Cawdor and ask: What else was he told by the witches? (that he would be king) 

  What does Lady Macbeth mean by his ‘nature’? (his character/ personality) 

  What does she mean by ‘too full of the milk of human kindness’? (he is too caring) 

  What is the illness needed in someone who is ambitious? (A toughness or ruthlessness not to care) 

  Explain that ‘hie thee hither’ means come here 
  
  What does she mean by ‘pour my spirits in thine ear’? (Tell him her reasons, convince him) 
  
  What does she want to happen? (That he will be crowned king) 

  • Organise students into pairs and give each pair one or two lines from the speech (see pdf)  

  • Explain that they are all Lady Macbeth. In pairs they will have some time to rehearse a performance of their line and then share with the group. Perhaps they will speak or sign together, perhaps divide the line between them. Perhaps repeat a word or sign, or add other gestures and movements. 

  • For the performance, ask students to stand in a semi-circle and to perform their lines in the order of the speech. 

  • Discuss what they enjoyed about the performances and anything they found interesting about the language. 

• EXERCISE 3: Macbeth’s return

  • Recap the key points from Lady Macbeth’s speech in Exercise 2 (she believes the witches and wants Macbeth to take the crown of Scotland for himself immediately, but is concerned that he is not strong enough to kill the king and fulfill the prophecy.)  
  • Tell students that Lady Macbeth calls on spirits, or supernatural powers, to make her strong enough to help Macbeth kill Duncan.  
  • Explain to students that they are now all in role as Lady Macbeth waiting for Macbeth to return home.  
  • Explain that you will take on the role of Macbeth returning home from the battle. Tell them you will put on the sashes for ‘Thane of Glamis’ and ‘Thane of Cawdor’ and will then enter the space as Macbeth. 
  • Enter the space, saying: ‘My dearest love, I’ve come home. King Duncan is coming to stay here tonight’. Then ask: ‘What are we going to do?’  
  • Encourage students to offer their ideas. You can use these questions as prompts: 

  ‘Are we going to let him leave here alive?’   
  
  ‘If he is alive, how can I be king?’ 
  
  ‘If we kill him, how do we not get caught?’  
  
  ‘How can we kill a good man who has been a good king and a friend to us?’ 
  
  ‘Is it right to kill a guest in our house?’ 
  
  ‘If we kill him, will God will punish us?’

  • End the discussion by telling the Lady Macbeths that you will think about what she has said, but for now you must get the castle ready to receive the king. 

• EXERCISE 4: Reasons to kill the king

  • Ask students to work in pairs and to list as many reasons as they can think of for why Macbeth and Lady Macbeth should kill the king and why they shouldn’t.  
  • Share ideas as a whole group and encourage students to add any new ideas to their own lists. 
  • Discuss what they think will happen next. 
  • Explain that Lady Macbeth and Macbeth talk more and make a plan to kill King Duncan while he is staying at their castle that night. 

• EXERCISE 5: Look like the innocent flower (metaphors)

  • See Exercise 1 for warm ups to this activity. 
  • Show (slide) - the line and illustration for: ‘Look like the innocent flower but be the serpent under it’  
  • Tell students this is what Lady Macbeth says to Macbeth about their plans to kill Duncan 
  • Organise students into small groups. Ask each group to work together to copy the image as best they can by physically making a flower with their bodies with a serpent under it. You may need to model this by working with a small group and directing them into positions to show what the image might look like. 
  • See each group in turn and invite comments about what students like about each other’s work. Discuss how can we tell the image shows a flower and a serpent. 
  • Next organise students into pairs as Lady Macbeth and Macbeth. 
  • Ask the Lady Macbeths to physically sculpt their Macbeth into a statue of someone who looks like an ‘innocent flower’. 
  • Next ask the Lady Macbeths to sculpt Macbeth into a statue of someone who looks like a serpent. 
  • Ask the Macbeths to practise moving from one shape to the other.   
  • Invite the Macbeths to share their performances, transitioning from flower to serpent. Discuss with students what they think works well and then what they think Lady Macbeth is asking Macbeth to do. 
  • Explain that when something is compared to something else using the word ‘like’ - ‘like the innocent flower’ - we call this a simile (slide). 
  • When something is compared to something else as being something else - ‘be the serpent’ - this is a metaphor (slide). 
  • You might like to give other examples, for example we might talk about clouds in the sky as ‘clouds like cotton wool’ or as ‘cotton wool clouds’. Ask students to suggest other examples for what Lady Macbeth wants Macbeth to do. Perhaps she might say ‘Look like the summer’s day but be the rain cloud’ or ‘Look like the innocent puppy, but be the sharp teeth’. 

• EXERCISE 6: King Duncan arrives

  • Invite students to all pretend to be Lady Macbeth as she waits for King Duncan and his court to arrive at Inverness castle.
  • As a reminder you can play the Duncan Dramatis Personae Video from the gallery. This introduces King Duncan with his sign name and an illustration of him.
  • Ask students to show you, as a freeze frame or statue, how they are going to greet the King. 
  • Build on the freeze frames to establish the idea that Lady Macbeth needs to look as though she is welcoming King Duncan to her house. She needs to pretend to be his friend.
  • Now ask students to change their freeze frame or statue into an image of what Lady Macbeth really wants to do to King Duncan (kill him).
  • Encourage them to make connections with the metaphors they created in Exercise 5.

• EXERCISE 7: Lady Macbeth’s hopes and fears

  • Give students a copy of the Lady Macbeth’s hopes and fears pdf and ask them, in pairs, to add what they think Lady Macbeth's hopes are and what she fears and fill in the two columns. 
  • Share ideas as a whole group and encourage students to add any new ideas to their own lists.