We have our 30 enthusiastic 5th grade Shakespeareans, and we begin rehearsals in late January. The first meeting is not a rehearsal as such; we spend nearly an hour going over expectations—what we expect of our actors in terms of behavior, attendance and attitude, and what they can expect from their directors in return. We answer their questions about the play, about the program, and about the upcoming auditions. One student in particular asks a lot of questions, all of them good ones. I ask if he wants to be a lawyer; he says yes, and no one is surprised. We ask them to sign a behavior contract, have their parents look it over and sign it, too, and hand it in at auditions. None of them object—not even the proto-lawyer.
The children are at least somewhat familiar with the plot of Macbeth from reading a synopsis they were given during our classroom visits. We go over what roles will be available in our version of the play, and what sorts of actions are required of the different characters. They fixate on how many lines each role has. We tell them to knock it off.
I have printed out some audition selections, excerpts from our script, for them to prepare for auditions. We adults act out the excerpts so the students can hear the language and get a sense of what each mini-scene is about. They listen raptly and react enthusiastically, applauding at times. One of our program co-chairs, Matthew, who memorized the “Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow” speech in high school, performs it off-book with great feeling. If only his hand hadn’t been in front of his mouth for the first two lines.
After we model all the excerpts—seven half-page scenes in all—we devote the remainder of the session to letting the kids rehearse, on their feet and with partners of their own choosing. We give them feedback and answer more questions. Some young ladies are scrubbing their hands distractedly, and some young men are striding purposefully around the room lamenting the futility of life—it is, after all, a tale told by an idiot—but it looks like most everyone wants to be a witch or Macduff.
Who wouldn’t?
thirdwitchfirstmurderer 