DAY SIX

Monday, March 17, 2000

GOALS/OBJECTIVES

*For students to view the work of professional actors and to respond to it.

*Students will focus on the problems of character and staging of Act III, Scene iv, see several solutions to these problems, and evaluate the solutions according to what the lines in the script suggest.

ACTIVITIES

*Summarize Act III, Scene iv.

*Distribute to students (or put on the blackboard) a list of some of the issues that a theater company must address in staging this scene.

Issues might include:

-How should the lords at the feast react to Macbeth's side of the conversation with the murderer? What will the audience conclude from these reactions?

-How should Banquo's ghost be portrayed? Who sees it? How will these portrayals affect the mood of the performance and the emotions or sympathies of the audience?

-How should Lady Macbeth react to Macbeth's fit? What will the audience conclude from these reactions?

-How can we use camera angles, cuts, close-ups, or other techniques to influence the audience?

*Assign each student two issues from the list. Tell them that as they watch each video version of III. iv. they are to pay close attention to how the director deals with those two issues (make sure that all of the issues are assigned).

*Additionally, for each production that you view, tell students to list a word that captures Macbeth's mood or frame of mind at the end of the scene. Do the same for Lady Macbeth.

*Show the first version of the scene and answer any questions students have about who's who, what happened, or general logistics. Then canvass the room for observations about how the performance dealt with the issues above. Probe, question, and clarify.

*Show a second video taped performance of III, iv. And ask students to talk about the similarities or differences that exist in the way the two versions treat the issues they are watching for.

*If time permits, show a third version and ask how this version differed from the two previous ones.

*Follow up with a general discussion of the scene. Being sure to give students a chance to discuss issues that are not part of the list you gave them. Ask them to evaluate the various directors' decisions based on what the lines in Shakespeare's script suggest.

MATERIALS/RESOURCES

*At least three videotaped versions of Act II, scene iv, of Macbeth cued and ready to go

(Orson Welles' 1948 version, Roman Polanski's 1971 version, or the 1979 Royal Shakespeare Company, Phillip Casson).

OUTSIDE ASSIGNMENT

*Read Act IV for homework.

*Divide the class into five small groups, instruct them to bring in sample newspapers, and printing supplies for tomorrow's activity.