Aquila Theatre Company in William Shakespeare’s

Stephens Auditorium 10 a.m.—60-minute guided tour (see p. 5 for more info) 7:30 p.m.—full performance Tuesday, November 1, 2011

For nearly four hundred years, Shakespeare’s Macbeth, written for the Elizabethan stage, has been performed for many audiences. Because of its universal appeal and short length (Macbeth is the shortest of Shakespeare’s plays), the play is frequently produced.

Modern audiences enjoy the elements of ghosts, superstition and witchcraft together with an action-packed plot. Macbeth, a politically ambitious character, is married to a strong-willed wife who tries to cope with the guilt caused by their murder of an innocent king in order to further their power. Macbeth is the last of Shakespeare’s four great tragedies, the others being Hamlet, King Lear and Othello, and is considered by many scholars to be Shakespeare’s darkest work. Nowhere does he show life as more brutal and cynical.

Shakespeare’s chief source for Macbeth is Holinshed’s Chronicles (Click here to read Holinshed), who bases his account of Scotland’s history, and Macbeth’s in particular, on the Scortorum Hostoriae, written in 1527 by Hector Boece. Shakespeare altered these sources:

to produce more exciting story than is found in the original sources to create a more complex characterization of Macbeth for the political purpose of catering to the beliefs of King James the First, the reigning

monarch.

Shakespeare, the dramatist Very little is known about the life of Shakespeare. However, dates of his birth and death, and his marriage to Anne Hathaway have been verified by historians and by church records. He was born on April 23, 1564 to John and Mary Shakespeare. On November 23, 1582 he married Anne Hathaway. She was eight years older than he was. They had a child named Susanna, baptized on May 25, 1583 and then had twins, Hammet and Judith, baptized on February 2, 1585. Shakespeare proved himself to be a very good writer and an average actor. He was associated with a group of other actors called the Chamberlain’s Men and was one of the few actors who held a share in the company. He was also a part of the consortium who built and owned the Globe Theatre. With his writing and acting abilities he wrote plays at the rate of about two a year. In his lifetime he wrote 36 plays, 154 sonnets and two narrative poems.

Macbeth was written around 1605 during Shakespeare’s so-called “Tragic Period.” The play, intended to teach us a lesson about the human condition, is a tragedy about a wealthy Scottish noble, Macbeth, who kills his king to gain the throne.

The Globe Theater

William Shakespeare

Summary of Macbeth Act I:

The play opens with the three weird sisters setting up the entire theme of the play: “Fair is foul and foul is fair.” A war is taking place against Scotland (the setting of this play) and Norway. Scotland is victorious due to the valiant efforts of Macbeth. The traitorous Thane of Cawdor is captured and executed. King Duncan decides to reward Macbeth with the title of Thane of Cawdor to show his gratitude.

The scene shifts to the battleground where the three weird sisters confront Macbeth and Banquo, telling Macbeth that he will become the Thane of Cawdor and eventually king. Macbeth soon learns of this new title, fulfilling the first part of the prophecy, and sends word to his wife. King Duncan plans on staying the night at Macbeth’s home.

Lady Macbeth receives the news and immediately plots the death of King Duncan so her husband will be king. Lady Macbeth manipulates Macbeth into following her plans, and he reluctantly agrees to murder Duncan. By the end of Act I, Macbeth is determined to follow through with the plan.

Act II:

Macbeth again has some doubts (and visions), but he soon talks himself into following through with the murder. Macbeth freaks out so Lady Macbeth finished the rest of the plan by wiping blood on the drunken guards.

The next morning, Macduff and Lennox arrive at Macbeth’s and discover the dead body of King Duncan. All are shocked and Macbeth plays his role to perfection. The guards are immediately suspect and Macbeth kills them “in a fit of sorrow and rage.” Malcolm and Donalbain, the King’s sons, flee the castle because they are afraid that they will be blamed for the murder of their father. The king is soon buried.

Act III:

Banquo begins to suspect Macbeth for the murder of King Duncan and Macbeth in turn feels that Banquo will reveal that it was he who killed the King. Therefore, Macbeth sends out some thugs to murder Banquo and his son, Fleance. Banquo is murdered, but Fleance escapes.

Macbeth, Lady Macbeth, Lennox, Ross and other lords attend a banquet. The ghost of Banquo presents itself to Macbeth. Macbeth begins to rant and rave, making the other guests uneasy. Lady Macbeth tries to cover up the situation by saying Macbeth is prone to fits. By the end of this Act, we learn that Macduff has not attended the banquet because he has gone to England, looking for aid because he is suspicious of Macbeth.

Act IV:

Macbeth confronts the three weird sisters and they show him more visions. The visions lead Macbeth to believe that any man born of woman cannot kill him, giving him a false sense of security. He then plans to send murderers to the castle to kill Macduff’s family.

Meanwhile, Macduff is in England begging Malcolm to return to Scotland and seize the throne from Macbeth who has become a tyrant. Malcolm tests Macduff’s loyalty to Scotland and himself, and after being satisfied with Macduff’s responses, Malcolm agrees to wage war against Macbeth. Malcolm’s uncle will also aid in the attack.

Act V:

Lady Macbeth has finally gone mad with guilt over the murders. The once strong and ruthless woman is now a scared child. Doctors are unable to help her.

Some of the Scottish lords are discussing Macbeth’s state of mind and have come to the conclusion that they will help Malcolm and Macduff fight against Macbeth. Of course, Macbeth isn’t really concerned because the prophecy, he believes, insures that he cannot be killed by any man. Macbeth soon confronts Macduff and learns that Macduff was ripped from his mother’s side and not born naturally. Thus, Macduff kills Macbeth, just as Macbeth had conquered the other Thane of Cawdor. Malcolm than becomes the rightful King of Scotland.

Macduff’s family is slain. Clipart courtesy FCIT: http://etc.usf.edu/clipart

Lady Macbeth Clipart courtesy FCIT: http://etc.usf.edu/clipart

Three Witches Clipart courtesy FCIT: http://etc.usf.edu/clipart

(Text based on http://shakespearenet.net/index.html ©1997-2008 Brian Wilkins. All Rights Reserved.)

Additional Resources:

Additional resources for this production:

http://aquilatheatre.com/touring/macbeth

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=juGRvpshzQ4 Aquila Theatre's Peter Meineck discusses the upcoming production

Macbeth and other Shakespearean resources:

http://www.folger.edu/template.cfm?cid=2778 The Folger Shakespeare Library is a world-renowned research center in Washington, DC. Home to the world’s largest and finest collection of Shakespeare materials and to major collections of other rare Renaissance books, manuscripts, and works of art, the Folger serves a wide audience of researchers, visitors, teachers, students, families, and theater- and concert-goers.

http://www.vpw.com/partner/shakespeare "Shakespeare in American Communities" is available, free of charge, to educators who teach English/Language Arts, Arts, Social Studies or History at the junior high, high school or college level, or are junior high, high school or college librarians.

http://www.pathguy.com/macbeth.htm Enjoying "Macbeth" (by Ed Friedlander, M.D.) Macbeth is supposed to upset people. It shows life at its most brutal and cynical, in order to ask life's toughest question. Focuses on the drama and dark side of Macbeth. There are also many wonderful additional links.

http://www.shakespearehelp.com/macbeth.htm Great resource for links to all things Macbeth

http://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/macbeth/study.html this link has context, plot overview, act synopsis, on-line quiz with answers.

http://www.shakespeare-navigators.com/macbeth/LessonPlans.html good link with lots of other links

http://www.shakespeare-online.com

http://absoluteshakespeare.com

http://cummingsstudyguides.net/xMacbeth.html#Macbeth again, lots of links to plot, characters, Shakespeare, etc.

Activities Before and After Reading Macbeth: Tell the story to the class. Try to bring Macbeth to life and disucss. View a movie or videotape of Macbeth. There are versions from 1948 (Orson Welles) and 1983 (Roman Polanski). Graph the dramatic action:

Discuss the following themes: - the corruption of power, - blind ambition, - things are not what they seem, - superstition and its effects on human behavior What other themes do you find in the play? Discuss Shakespeare’s use of literary techniques such as foreshadowing, similes, metaphors, alliteration, symbol

and irony. One if the themes of Macbeth is “things are not what they seem.’ Can you relate an incident from your life when

you thought something (or someone) was one way, but it (he/she) turned out to be another? After discussing themes of Macbeth related directly to students’ lives, examine the themes of classic tragedy: the

tragic flaw of ambition, the role of fate, the inevitable nature of tragedy, the isolation of the tragic hero.

Rising Action Turning point/Climax Falling Action Resolution

32 second Macbeth Janet Field-Pickering, Folger Shakespeare Library, Head of Education 1996-2000.

The length of Shakespeare's plays is enough to strike terror into the hearts of most students, especially ones who expect "the two-hours' traffic of our stage" promised by the Prologue in Romeo and Juliet. Taking inspiration from The Reduced Shakespeare Company's hilarious and brief The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) and Cam Magee, an actor and dramaturg from Washington, D.C., here is a very concise version of Shakespeare's Macbeth.

What To Do This lesson will take one class period.

1. Make nine photocopies of the handout (link below)—one each for Macbeth and the eight other actors. 2. Have nine volunteers take their places at the front of the room. Assign roles and let the actors read through the script once, for rehearsal. Then get out your stopwatch and see if your students can make or break the 32-second record. When the script indicates that a character dies, the actor must hit the floor. 3. Then select nine more volunteers to see if the second group can beat the first group's record. Again, give them a practice run before timing, and cheer for the winners. 4. If you wish, ask your students, in groups, to create their own 32-second versions of one act from Macbeth or another complete Shakespeare play. Along with selecting short and punchy lines to highlight the plot, they need to pick the characters that they want to include in their scripts. For example, in "The 32-second Mac-beth," Actors 1–8 are, respectively, the witches, Duncan, Lady Macbeth, Banquo, Macduff's son, and Macduff.

32-SECOND MACBETH

Actors 1, 2, 3 Fair is foul and foul is fair

Actor 4 What bloody man is that?

Actor 2 A drum, a drum! Macbeth doth come

Macbeth So foul and fair a day I have not seen

Actor 3 All hail, Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter!

Macbeth If chance will have me king, then chance will crown me

Actor 5 Unsex me here

Macbeth If it were done when ‘tis done

Actor 5 Screw your courage to the sticking place

Macbeth Is this a dagger that I see before me? (Actor 4 dies)

Actor 5 A little water clears us of this deed.

Actor 6 Fly, good Fleance, fly! (dies)

Macbeth Blood will have blood

Actors 1, 2, 3 Double, double, toil and trouble

Actor 7 He has kill’d me, mother! (dies)

Actor 8 Bleed, bleed, poor country!

Actor 5 Out damn’d spot! (dies)

Macbeth Out, out, brief candle!

Actor 8 Turn, hell-hound, turn!

Macbeth Lay on Macduff! (dies)

Actor 8 Hail, king of Scotland!

The Aquila Theatre Company

The Guided Tour Aquila’s “Guided Tour” is designed not as a condensed version of the play but as an educational “tour” of key scenes. The event demystifies the characters and examines elements of this complex and fascinating play. An actor from the Aquila Theatre Company hosts the tour, introducing each character, providing context, and supplying a narrative link for the stage action. Complete scenes are acted in costume with sets and props and includes the entire cast. An open question and answer session is included.

The Play | The Company

What is it about Macbeth that inspires such superstition? It is well known in theatrical circles that the name of the “Scottish Play” must never be uttered on a stage. Shakespeare’s masterful highland drama of war, assassination, sex and intrigue is one of his most famous plays and is rooted in a world of ancient mysticism, malevolent magic and witchcraft whose primeval forces tear the world of feudal Scotland apart. At the heart of this compelling, dangerous and chilling drama are a series of incredibly well-wrought relationships, between a man and a woman , his best friend, father-figure, non-existent son and heir and those who might usurp his newly won power. Aquila’s new production of Macbeth emphasizes these relationships in a tightly wrought production that has audiences on the edges of their seats. We set out to understand Macbeth’s descent into murder, madness and deprivation and how the returning warrior comes home to a world of death and destruction.

Aquila’s production features a stellar all British cast with several Scottish actors who bring a deep affinity with the material, a wealth of expertise in Shakespearean language and an authenticity of performance style. Aquila is known as one of the finest Shakespearean ensembles in America today leading to invitations to perform at the White House for the President and First Lady and the New Yorker describing Aquila’s Elizabethan acting as “Beautifully spoken, dramatically revealing and crystalline on effect”.

Aquila Theatre Company's mission is to bring innovative, challenging and high-quality, classical drama to the widest possible audience. Since 1991, Aquila has staged bold and relevant works that empower audiences to appreciate classical plays as live, visceral, and above all entertaining. Aquila invigorates the art form, educates and builds audiences, and makes Shakespeare and classical drama accessible and relevant to Americans today. They tour extensively to an average of 60 communities through the United States each year from September to April with a repertory of two plays, including education programs. Recent season have included A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Pirandello’s Six Characters In Search of an Author to 48 communities in 29 states in 2010-2011; As You Like It and An Enemy of the People to 40 communities in 23 states in 2009-2010; and Catch-22 and Iliad: Errors and The Iliad: Book One to 56 communities in 27 states in 2008-2009. Aquila Theatre Company's extensive national tour works closely with teachers and education directors to develop workshops that connect students directly to live theater.

Ancient Greeks/Modern Lives: Poetry-Drama-Dialogue is a program that has been made possible b y a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities: great ideas brought to life.

www.ancientgreeksmodernlives.org Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this program do not

necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

This presentation is supported by the Performing Arts Fund, a program of Arts Midwest, funded by National Endowment for the Arts, with additional contributions from the Iowa Arts Council,

General Mills Foundation, and Land O’Lakes Foundation.

"one of the most inventive

and daring theater companies

in the country" - The Lincoln Journal Star Lincoln, NE

We are delighted to have you as our guest and want your experience to be an enjoyable one. Attending a live performance is very different from watching television or going to the movies. You are not simply watching what is happening on the stage; you play an active role. The artists have worked very hard to prepare this performance for you, so please remember the golden rule:

Treat others the way you would like to be treated.

Here are a few guidelines to help you—and your fellow audience members—enjoy the performance:

Getting to AmesStephens Auditorium is part of the Iowa State Center located at the corner of University Boulevard

(formerly Elwood Drive) and Lincoln Way in Ames, Iowa. Plentiful parking is available on all sides of the building. Please follow traffic directors’ instructions if you are asked to park

in a specific location. Handicapped-accessible and limited-mobility parking is available on the west side of the auditorium.

Be Prepared• Arrive early. Please plan to arrive at the theater at least 15 minutes before curtain time. Be generous in your estimation of travel and parking time. • Plan ahead to meet anyone in your group who travels separately. Once inside the theater, ‘saving seats’ for friends will only prove frustrating to all involved.• Remember to turn off all beepers, cell phones, and watch alarms before entering the theater (And then double check!) and leave all laser pointers, cameras, etc. at home.

Be Courteous• Walk, don’t run, when entering or leaving the theater. The term “break a leg” means good luck to the performers not the audience!• Do not take food or drink into the theater, and please – NO GUM!• Please take children out of the theater if they become restless and disrupt other's ability to listen.• Actors love to hear applause—it shows how much you enjoyed the performance. If you like something, applaud– if not, don’t. It’s rude to boo or whistle.

Be Aware• It’s ok to talk quietly with those sitting next to you before the performance; however, when the lights dim, it’s time to be quiet and direct your attention to the stage.• Practice the International Sign of “Quiet Please!” by silently raising your finger to your lips to politely remind a neighbor or friend. You communicate your wish for quiet without adding to the distraction. Excessive noise or motion can disturb not only other audience members, but the performers as well. • Take everything you brought with you when you leave. Once the cast has taken their bows and the house lights come up, check under your seat for any items (coats, backpacks, etc) you might have placed there.

Be Open• A good audience member is open to new sights and sounds. Enjoy!

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Theater Etiquette