2016, WITH PERFORMANCES IN THE MORNING AND AFTERNOON.

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2 KEY INFORMATION: THIS SHOW IS SPECIFICALLY DEVISED TO INTRODUCE SHAKESPEARE TO PRIMARY SCHOOL CHILDREN AT YEAR 3, YEAR 4, YEAR 5, AND YEAR 6, TO LEAVE THE CHILDREN WITH AN ENDURING IMPRESSION OF THE MAGIC THAT SHAKESPEARE PROVIDES, BRINGING THE STORY ALIVE THROUGH ACTIVE DRAMA, EXPLORING THE CHARACTERS AND PLOT, AND SHOWING HOW TO ENJOY THE LANGUAGE. THE PLAY IS A CONCISE ABRIDGED VERSION OF THE ENTIRE PLAY, AND CONCENTRATES ON ALL THE KEY SCENES. THE PLAY IS BROUGHT VIVIDLY TO LIFE. THE PLAY FLOWS AS A COMPLETE PLAY IN ITSELF, AND IS NOT A SERIES OF INDIVIDUAL UNCONNECTED SCENES. THE WHOLE 60 MINUTE PERFORMANCE ACCURATELY CAPTURES THE DRAMA OF SHAKESPEARE S FAMOUS TRAGEDY, AND BRINGS THE TEXT TO LIFE FOR YOUNG AUDIENCES TO ENJOY. WE USE AN ENSEMBLE OF SKILLED ACTORS, AND WE ARE WELL KNOWN FOR OUR ENERGETIC, VIGOROUS, PHYSICAL THEATRE PERFORMANCES WHERE CLOSE ATTENTION IS PAID TO THE LANGUAGE, BRINGING THE PERFORMANCE ALIVE AS A DYNAMIC, WELL-SPOKEN DISPLAY OF THEATRE. ALL OUR PERFORMERS ARE PROFESSIONAL, QUALIFIED ACTORS, AND ARE RECENTLY DBS CHECKED TO ENHANCED LEVEL. EACH PERFORMANCE LASTS 60 MINUTES. PLUS, AFTERWARDS WE HAVE A 30-MINUTE INTERACTIVE DISCUSSION WITH THE AUDIENCE GUIDED BY THE ACTORS, WHERE WE CAN DISCUSS THE CHARACTERS MACBETH AND LADY MACBETH, AND EXAMINE THEIR CONTRASTING PERSONALITIES, THOUGHTS, FEELINGS AND MOTIVES, AND HELP TO EXPLAIN/EXPAND/ EXPLORE THE TEXT FARTHER. THE CHILDREN WILL BE ENCOURAGED TO BE ACTIVELY INVOLVED THROUGH A CAREFULLY STRUCTURED RANGE OF DRAMA AND LANGUAGE ACTIVITIES, IN ORDER TO BETTER UNDERSTAND THE PLOT, CHARACTERS, THEMES, LANGUAGE AND STYLE OF MACBETH. EACH PERFORMANCE COMES COMPLETE WITH A FREE TEACHERS PACK CONTAINING A WEALTH OF INFORMATION, BACKGROUND NOTES, PERFORMANCE NOTES, AND A SERIES OF SUGGESTED FOLLOW-ON ACTIVITIES FOR BOTH TEACHERS AND PUPILS, TO HELP MAXIMISE THE IMPACT OF OUR VISIT, AND HELP DEVELOP THEIR UNDERSTANDING OF SHAKESPEARE DATES ARE AVAILABLE TO BOOK FROM MONDAY 22 nd FEBRUARY 2016 THROUGH TO FRIDAY 6 th MAY 2016, WITH PERFORMANCES IN THE MORNING AND AFTERNOON.

3 MORE ABOUT THE SHOW: From late-february through to early-may we are touring with our latest production of Shakespeare s dazzling action-and-adventure tragedy MACBETH, which has universal themes that can be understood in any culture and time: a tale of ambition, and the evils we will go to in order to get what we want. We follow the central character, Macbeth, as he plots and kills in order to become king; and as soon as he is crowned, we watch as his world falls apart around him. MACBETH is Shakespeare s shortest tragedy, and tells the story of an heroic Scottish general who receives a prophecy from a trio of witches that one day he will become King of Scotland. Consumed by ambition and spurred to action by his wife, Macbeth murders King Duncan and takes the throne for himself. His reign is racked with guilt and paranoia, and he soon becomes a tyrannical ruler as he is forced to commit more and more murders to protect himself from enmity and suspicion. Their actions swiftly takes Macbeth and Lady Macbeth into realms of arrogance, madness, and death. The play dramatises the corroding psychological and political effects produced when its protagonist chooses evil as the way to fulfil his ambition for power. He commits regicide to become king and then furthers his moral descent with a reign of murderous terror to stay in power, eventually plunging the country into civil war. In the end he loses everything that gives meaning and purpose to his life before losing his life itself. For this production we have created a clear, condensed, working guide to Shakespeare's tragedy particularly aimed at Year 3, Year 4, Year 5 and Year 6 Primary schools pupils. This is an abridged version of the entire play, concentrating on all the key scenes, characters and confrontations, and flows seamlessly. This detailed dramatic overview of the play will create a strong, lasting impact with pupils; and brings vividly to life the plot, the characters, and the themes of the corrupting power of unchecked ambition, use of the supernatural and superstition, and the guilt that sits like a permanent stain on the consciences of both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, one that hounds them to their graves. The whole 60 minute performance is very tight and compelling: accurately capturing the tense tragedy of Shakespeare s text. Performed by our talented ensemble of professional actors, this production will have a strong and lasting impact on the audience, and will bring the text to life. PLUS: after each performance we have a 30-minute, face-to-face interactive discussion with our young audience, guided by actors in the company, where we can talk directly to the main characters in the play by hot-seating MACBETH and LADY MACBETH and examine these characters' contrasting personalities, thoughts and motives, and help to explain/ expand/ explore the text by actively involving the young audience through a carefully structured range of drama and language activities as we unravel the plot, characters, themes, language and style of MACBETH. PLUS: Each performance of this classic tragedy comes complete with a FREE TEACHER S PACK to help maximise the impact of our visit with story and performance notes useful for both teachers and students. The pack contains lots of information, background notes, and suggested follow-on reading, writing, drama and art activities for use by both teachers and pupils long after our visit has ended. Each performance lasts 60 minutes, followed by the interactive discussion which lasts 30 minutes. All told a total of 1½ hours of compelling Shakespeare for Primary Schools.

4 FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS: Who is this show suitable for? This production of MACBETH is devised specifically for Year 3, Year 4, Year 5 and Year 6 Primary schools pupils as a compelling introduction to Shakespeare. What space and equipment do you need the school to provide? We will use the School Hall, and make use of all the available space. We DO NOT need the school to provide any equipment, and we will bring everything with us. There is no set or equipment to erect. We need a school hall with a flat, empty floor space. The performance will be presented traditionally front-on. Set up time is approximately 40 minutes, and we would need the space to ourselves for this preparation time. How does this performance help our audiences? As a theatre company, we believe that live entertainment is far more effective in the educational arena than DVDs, film or television, where involvement is passive, and so often quickly forgotten. A live performance has a much greater impact on learning, and stays in children s minds long after we have left the school. MACBETH is a classic Shakespeare play that was written to be seen performed and not read from a book, and our live performance concisely lifts the story and the characters off the pages and brings the text to life and makes it easier for young audiences to understand the plot, characters, themes, language and style of this great play. After each performance we have a 30-minute, face-to-face interactive discussion, guided by actors in the company, we can discuss the contrasting personalities, thoughts and motives of the main characters, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, and help to explain/expand/explore the text farther by actively involving the young audience through a carefully structured range of drama and language activities as we unravel the plot, characters, themes, language and style of MACBETH. What can we expect from the performance? Our performance is a concise, abridged version of the entire story, performed by our group of talented actors. Concentrating on key scenes, characters and confrontations, the story flows seamlessly, and our detailed dramatic overview of this compelling story is constructed to create a strong, lasting impact with students: and brings the plot, the characters, and the themes vividly to life. The whole 60 minute production is tight and tense: accurately capturing the drama of Shakespeare s play. We are well known for our energetic, vigorous, physical theatre performances where close attention is paid to the language, bringing the performance alive as a dynamic, well-spoken display of theatre, and this production will have a strong and lasting impact on anyone watching this great tragedy, and will vividly bring the text to life. Our TEACHERS PACK, which comes FREE with every performance, helps to maximise the impact of our visit with story and performance notes useful for both teachers and students. The pack contains lots of information, background notes, and suggested activities for both teachers and students to use after our visit has ended. What dates are available to book? This show is on tour from Monday 22 nd February 2016 through to Friday 6 th May, We have shows in the morning and in the afternoon, with start times to suit individual schools. We urge you to book as soon as possible to get the date you want to fit in with your school s timetable.

5 HOW DO I MAKE A BOOKING? IF YOU WISH TO MAKE A BOOKING, OR GET MORE INFORMATION ABOUT MACBETH then either: TELEPHONE US on and speak to BRIAN or FAX US on or US at: brian@manactco.org.uk And we will talk you through the detail of the presentation, answer any questions you may have, and arrange all the details with you.

6 NOTES ABOUT MANCHESTER ACTORS COMPANY We have over 35 YEARS experience of bringing professional theatre to the north west and neighbouring counties... Providing an exciting, relevant, non-condescending and unpretentious theatre service in a full range of mostly non-theatre venues. We are well known for our energetic, vigorous, physical theatre performances where close attention is paid to the language, bringing the plays alive as a dynamic, well-spoken display of physical theatre, performed by some of the UK. s hottest young stage talent. Almost 100,000 school children watch our productions annually... FOR SECONDARY SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES we have presented a series of theatre projects aimed at keystage 3 and keystage 4 students, which in recent years have included: MACBETH; ROMEO AND JULIET; THE TEMPEST; MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING; OF MICE AND MEN; AN INSPECTOR CALLS; A CHRISTMAS CAROL; THE STRANGE CASE of DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE FOR PRIMARY SCHOOLS we have presented a series of both wellestablished favourites and new writing projects - aimed directly as a springboard for keystage 1 and keystage 2 classwork - all of which are always very well received by schools and their young audiences. In recent years, the established favourites have included: ALICE IN WONDERLAND; THE PIED PIPER OF HAMELIN; PINOCCHIO; ROBIN HOOD; ALICE THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS; THE FIREBIRD; THE SELFISH GIANT; BIG BAD WOLF, THE SWORD IN THE STONE, ALADDIN, PUSS IN BOOTS, MOTHER GOOSE, DICK WHITTINGTON... Whilst brand-new original projects have included: THE PIRATE QUEEN; THE ENCHANTED TOYSHOP; DAREDEVIL DEXTER; POETRY IN MOTION; FANTASTIC FABLES; HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN; WATCH OUT MR. PUNCH; DANNY OCEAN, UNDERWATER EXPLORER; MERLINS MAGIC STORYBOOK; TALES OF MOUNT OLYMPUS; BLOOMING POETRY; TALES FROM ARABIAN NIGHTS... Recently we have been touring Primary Schools with special versions of Shakespeare s ROMEO AND JULIET and MACBETH for Keystage 2. All of our primary school projects are hugely successful and each a total sell-out. NOW WE PRESENT OUR LATEST SHAKESPEARE PROJECT FOR PRIMARY SCHOOLS. DURING THE SPRING & SUMMER TERMS OF 2015 WE ARE TOURING WITH MACBETH... AND THIS SHOW IS SPECIFICALLY DEVISED TO INTRODUCE SHAKESPEARE TO PRIMARY SCHOOL CHILDREN AT YEAR 3, 4, 5, 6, TO LEAVE THE CHILDREN WITH AN ENDURING IMPRESSION OF THE MAGIC THAT SHAKESPEARE PROVIDES, BRINGING THIS FAMOUS STORY ALIVE THROUGH ACTIVE DRAMA, EXPLORING THE CHARACTERS AND PLOT, AND SHOWING HOW TO ENJOY THE LANGUAGE.