Digital @ The Arts Unit Creative Teachers

Macbeth - English

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

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

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

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.docx

The following 2 videos provide an example of other 'Macbeth' adaptations.

Act 1 Scene 1 of Macbeth – 1971 2006 and 2010

Duration 05:26

Macbeth – the Three Witches – Exclusive clip

Duration 01:19

Macbeth - Act 1, Scene 1 analysis questions

  1. What does each opening scene suggest about the style and tone that the director has decided to adopt for this film?

  2. How do the images presented establish the place, time and setting of the film for the viewer?

  3. 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?

  4. 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.

  5. 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.docx

Essay 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

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

  • 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

  • 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

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