Language & Literature

Year 9: Macbeth - relevant and captivating

by Emily Nancarrow, teacher of Language & Literature

Last Friday, the whole of Year 9 ventured into the hustle and bustle of the big city to see Macbeth by Bell Shakespeare. Held at the Playhouse Theatre in the Arts Centre, the modernised play bridged ancient Scotland with the contemporary world through a media-rich, audio-visual landscape.

Contrasting with popular and stereotypical portrayals of witches, the notorious Weird Sisters were played by three young women who proceeded to embed themselves within all aspects of the narrative as minor characters; a deliberate directorial decision to symbolise supernatural meddling and control? - or a result of tight budgeting? - or was is to represent the resonance of their prophecies and their perpetual impact on the decisions made by Macbeth, his wife and his enemies? Will we ever truly know?

If we travelled back in time and asked Shakespeare to explain what Macbeth is about I am certain he would, like all great artists, seem disinterested in explaining his work. Rather, he would encourage his audience and critics to make meaning themselves, saying something like, “read it, perform it, make of it what you will.” Maybe “readeth it, performeth it, maketh of it whateth you willeth” might be more historically accurate? If not entirely accurate, definitely more fun!

There has been no shortage of responses to that invitation. Macbeth has been popular ever since it was first performed with no single ‘right way’ of interpreting or performing the play. In fact, every time it is performed it reveals different messages, patterns, humanity, behaviours and underpinning meaning. Our own world views, social conditioning and personal identity cause us to understand it in a slightly different way to the next person. I suspect this is why Macbeth, and Shakespeare at large, remains relevant and captivating to school students today.

At the end of the performance I asked several students to provide a rating out of ten. Unanimously, there was nothing under a seven which, for me, indicates a thoroughly enjoyable trip to the theatre.