Outcomes and feedback

Watch and perform with the NSW Public Schools Drama Company 2022

Student resource developed by The Arts Unit

Years 6 to 9 drama and English

Welcome to Just Macbeth! by Andy Griffiths

Produced by The Arts Unit, NSW Department of Education, in association with Bell Shakespeare and the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA)

What will your students learn?

Your students will:

watch a recorded performance of Just Macbeth! by Andy Griffiths, performed at NIDA's Studio Theatre on 12 May 2022
explore perspectives on the production from the director and cast
learn about the student performers' experiences
create your own experiences through tasks and activities.

Poster featuring a cartoon-style illustration of a king's head floating over a splash of blood.

Just Macbeth! poster, design: Lliam Amor

Syllabus outcomes

Creative Arts K–6 Syllabus

Drama Stage 3

DRAS 3.4: responds critically to a range of drama works and performance styles.

Drama 7–10 Syllabus

Drama Stage 4

4.1.1: identifies and explores the elements of drama to develop belief and clarity in character, role, situation and action.
4.1.3: devises and enacts drama using scripted and unscripted material.
4.2.1: uses performance skills to communicate dramatic meaning.
4.3.2: recognises the function of drama and theatre in refelecting social and cultural aspects of human experience.

Drama Stage 5

5.1.1: manipulates the elements of drama to create belief, clarity and tension in character, role, situation and action.
5.1.3: devises, interprets and enacts drama using scripted and unscripted material or text.
5.2.1: applies acting and performance techniques expressively and collaboratively to communicate dramatic meaning.
5.3.2: analyses the contemporary and historical contexts of drama.

English K–10 Syllabus

English Stage 3

EN3-OLC-01: communicates to wide audiences with social and cultural awareness, by interacting and presenting, and by analysing and evaluating for understanding.
EN3-UARL-01: analyses representations of ideas in literature through narrative, character, imagery, symbol and connotation, and adapts these representations when creating texts.

English Stage 4

EN4-URA-01: analyses how meaning is created through the use of and response to language forms, features and structures.
EN4-URB-01: examines and explains how texts represent ideas, experiences and values.
EN4-URC-01: identifies and explains ways of valuing texts and the connections between them.

English Stage 5

EN5-URA-01: analyses how meaning is created through the use and interpretation of increasingly complex language forms, features and structures.
EN5-URB-01: evaluates how texts represent ideas and experiences, and how they can affirm or challenge values and attitudes.
EN5-URC-01: investigates and explains ways of valuing texts and the relationships between them.

Related additional resources

Speak the Speech by Bell Shakespeare: Andy Griffiths talks to host James Evans about his Shakespeare adaptation of Just Macbeth!
Andy Griffiths: author's website
Shakespeare Hub: Bell Shakespeare digital library of resources about Shakespeare and his plays for students and teachers
Bell Shakespeare teacher PD: Bell Shakespeare professional learning for teachers
NSW Premier's Reading Challenge 2016: author interview with Andy Griffiths
Just Macbeth! teacher resource: Stage 4 teaching resource and English curriculum links for Just Macbeth!
Just Macbeth! teachers' notes (PDF 1.54 MB): Teaching activities and resource links for Just Macbeth!
Inside the wild and wacky world of bestselling author Andy Griffiths (60 Minutes Australia): an 11-minute overview of Andy Griffiths and his books from 2019.
NIDA Studio Theatre: photographs, plans, drawings and technical specifications for the NIDA Studio Theatre where Just Macbeth! was performed in 2022.

Just Macbeth! rehearsal photos at The Arts Unit, photos: Anna Warr

Suggestions for how to use this resource with your students

Collection of student work

Google Forms: create a Google form with activities and/or questions. Students can also upload any files they create. Email this form to your students with the creative class link. As students submit their responses, they will be automatically collected in a Google Sheets document. You can access this document by clicking on the 'Responses' tab in the form editor.
Google Assignments: create an assignment or a quiz in your Google Classroom with activities and/or questions. Students can also upload any files they create.
Microsoft Teams: create a quiz or assignment in your class Team drive where students can submit responses and upload any files they create.
Email: ask your students to email you any responses and files they create.
Flip: create a video conversation. Flip is a website that allows teachers to create 'grids'. Each grid is a message board where teachers can pose questions called 'topics'. Students can post video responses that appear in a tiled grid display.
Google Jamboard: create an interactive whiteboard that can be used for class feedback.

Further support on how to create these resources

Share and celebrate your students' work with us

Would you like to promote your school and showcase your students' work as a result of engaging in this digital resource?

Help us celebrate the fantastic work of NSW public school students by emailing photos or videos that you have permission to share and comments on how your students enjoyed the class to digital.artsunit@det.nsw.edu.au. Please include the digital resource name and your school name in the email.

We look forward to sharing your students' achievements on our social media channels and website!