Macbeth: dramatized excerpts by the Seventh Grade Boys

"To be thus is nothing, but to be safely thus."  These words pronounced by Macbeth stating his precarious kingship were part of the excerpts of Shakespeare's play, Macbeth, performed by both Mrs. Beth Merz's seventh-grade language arts tracks on October 18 and 19.  The students recreated Act III Scenes I - III and Act V Scenes VI-VIII.  Those students who did not have acting roles wrote summarized narratives for the scenes omitted. 

As Mrs. Merz stated to the attending parents, "The boys really took ownership of the play..." from casting, figuring out the lighting, some stage direction, and costume configuration. Both seventh- grade classes, separately, practiced in their classrooms for a few weeks, but it was not until they took to McCabe Theater for a few practice sessions that they took off with the fluidity of the scenes. 

The most difficult parts for them were memorizing lines and remembering to listen for their cues to perform. However, the students were enthralled by putting together something of this nature and have requested to perform a Shakespeare comedy in the spring. Mrs. Merz has stated that if they work diligently in the next two quarters on their compositions she would consider. 

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