Digital @ The Arts Unit Creative Teachers
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NSW Public Schools Drama Company 2019
NSW Public Schools Drama Company 2019
Years 10 to 12 virtual performance opportunity
English resources developed by The Arts Unit
Suggestions for how to use this resource with your students
Suggestions for how to use this resource with your students
The following activities could be explored with your English students:
Focus on the concept of appropriation or transformation of the text.
Focus on Shakespeare and his plays, sonnets and language.
Discuss the difference between the use of verse and prose.
Support a close study of 'Macbeth' through the recorded live performance.
Explore key characters and how they relate to and illuminate modern experiences.
Explore the universal themes of the play – tragic hero, appearance versus reality, guilt, power, kingship versus tyranny etc
Shakespeare research
Shakespeare research
Students can research William Shakespeare and his impact.
Who is William Shakespeare?
Discover at least 10 Shakespeare plays.
Identify the differences between types of plays.
What are some of the recurring themes of Shakespeare plays?
What are some conventions of Shakespearean drama?
Research the Globe theatre and its history.
The following video provides a short summary of William Shakespeare's life.
William Shakespeare - in a nutshell
Duration 02:26
Shakespeare information
Shakespeare plays - comedies, tragedies, histories and romances
Shakespeare's works includes more than 35 plays, 150 sonnets and a variety of other poems.
Much Ado About Nothing
Midsummer Nights Dream
Comedy of Errors
Twelfth Night
Hamlet
Macbeth
King Lear
Julius Caesar
Henry V
Richard III
Romeo and Juliet
The Tempest
The Winter's Tale
Shakespearean conventions – 5 acts, soliloquies, supernatural elements, prologues, epilogues, poetic language iambic pentameter, asides, humour, conflict.
Shakespeare themes – gender roles, youth, sexuality, social class, death, greed, pride, religion, patriarchy, kingship.
Transformation and adaptation
Transformation and adaptation
Many of Shakespeare plays have been transformed or appropriated into modern films or plays.
Adaptation is to modify, alter or adjust a text. The most common adaptation's are from novels or plays to film.
Transformation is the change, conversion or reorientation of a text.
Appropriation is the process of taking a text from one context and using it in the creation of another. Examples include
‘Emma’ and ‘Clueless’
‘Taming of the Shrew’ and ‘10 things I hate about you’
‘Twelfth Night’ and She’s the Man’
‘Romeo and Juliet’ and ‘West Side Story’
‘Hamlet’ and ‘The Lion King’
This NSW Public Schools Drama Company production of 'Macbeth' is an effective example of how a play has been adapted.
There have also been many film adaptations of the 'Macbeth' over time.
Task:
Using the script of the opening scene, analyse how the opening scenes in the play and the following film adaptations have presented the witches scene. Use the questions and summary table below.
Macbeth - Act 1, Scene 1 (Word doc, 323KB)
Macbeth - Act 1, Scene 1.docxThe following 2 videos provide an example of other 'Macbeth' adaptations.
Act 1 Scene 1 of Macbeth – 1971 2006 and 2010
Duration 05:26Macbeth – the Three Witches – Exclusive clip
Duration 01:19Macbeth - Act 1, Scene 1 analysis questions
Macbeth - Act 1, Scene 1 analysis questions
What does each opening scene suggest about the style and tone that the director has decided to adopt for this film?
How do the images presented establish the place, time and setting of the film for the viewer?
How does the contrast between the Shakespearean language and the contemporary characters, costumes, props and setting location impact your understanding of the scene and characters?
The opening scene of Macbeth introduces the important characters of the witches. How does each director introduce us to the role these characters will play throughout the story? Consider costumes, props, editing and sound.
How do the images help to communicate the ideas when the language itself may be hard to understand?
Macbeth - Act 1, Scene 1: Analysis summary tables
(Word doc 607KB)
Macbeth Analysis tables - Act 1, Scene 1.docxEssay question:
Do you think the NSW PS Drama Company 'Macbeth' (2019) play is a successful adaptation of the original Shakespeare play?
Consider the the play's purpose, context and audience in your response.
Account for your point of view with close reference to the use of specific techniques and their effects.
Syllabus outcomes
Syllabus outcomes
K-10 English Syllabus outcomes
K-10 English Syllabus outcomes
EN5-1A: responds to and composes increasingly sophisticated and sustained texts for understanding, interpretation, critical analysis, imaginative expression and pleasure
EN5-2A: effectively uses and critically assesses a wide range of processes, skills, strategies and knowledge for responding to and composing a wide range of texts in different media and technologies
EN5-4B: effectively transfers knowledge, skills and understanding of language concepts into new and different contexts
EN5-6C: investigates the relationships between and among texts
EN5-7D: understands and evaluates the diverse ways texts can represent personal and public worlds
English Standard Stage 6 Syllabus outcomes
English Standard Stage 6 Syllabus outcomes
EN11-1: responds to and composes increasingly complex texts for understanding, interpretation, analysis, imaginative expression and pleasure
EN11-2: uses and evaluates processes, skills and knowledge required to effectively respond to and compose texts in different modes, media and technologies
EN11-3: analyses and uses language forms, features and structures of texts, considers appropriateness for purpose, audience and context and explains effects on meaning
EN11-4: applies knowledge, skills and understanding of language concepts and literary devices into new and different contexts
EN11-6: investigates and explains the relationships between texts
EN11-7: understands and explains the diverse ways texts can represent personal and public worlds
English Advanced Stage 6 Syllabus outcomes
English Advanced Stage 6 Syllabus outcomes
EA11-1: responds to, composes and evaluates complex texts for understanding, interpretation, critical analysis, imaginative expression and pleasure
EA11-2: uses and evaluates processes, skills and knowledge required to effectively respond to and compose texts in different modes, media and technologies
EAL11-3: identifies, selects and uses language forms, features and structures of texts appropriate to a range of purposes, audiences and contexts, and analyses their effects on meaning
EAL11-4: strategically uses knowledge, skills and understanding of language concepts and literary devices in new and different contexts
EAL11-6: investigates and evaluates the relationships between texts
EAL11-7: evaluates the diverse ways texts can represent personal and public worlds and recognises how they are valued
Third-party content attributions
Third-party content attributions
English K-10 Syllabus, © NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) for and on behalf of the Crown in right of the State of New South Wales, 2016, copied under s113P, accessed 1 March 2021.
English Standard Stage 6 Syllabus, © NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) for and on behalf of the Crown in right of the State of New South Wales, 2017, copied under s113P, accessed 1 March 2021.
English Advanced Stage 6 Syllabus, © NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) for and on behalf of the Crown in right of the State of New South Wales, 2016, copied under s113P, accessed 1 March 2021
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