On January 28th 2019 at 9 a.m., the grades 11 and 12 of our school went off to watch the play “Macbeth” by William Shakespeare at the Uckermärkische Bühnen Schwedt. Beforehand, we dealt with this play in the English lessons with Mrs. Heidemann and Mrs. du Bois respectively. We inter alia read the scene “Lady Macbeth persuades her husband” and analyzed it, which later on should have been very helpful whilst watching the play.
But let us begin in the morning, when the students and teachers headed off to the theatre by bus. We did not quite get to the theatre the way it was planned, because there had (probably) been a car crash in a village we had to go through. So the bus drivers had to take a detour. However, we still reached our destination in time. As usual, all students had to leave their jackets and backpacks outside the auditorium. Then we still had a little time left before we were allowed to enter and find our seats.
Promptly, at 11 a.m., the play started. We watched the adaption of the American Drama Group Europe. They honestly played amazingly.
In the play, there is a noble named Macbeth, who, together with his friend Banquo, meets some witches who prophesy Macbeth to become the Chieftain of Glamis, the Chieftain of Cawdor (both Scottish areas) and the King of Scotland. They as well prophesy Banquo to become the father of the future King of Scotland. At this point, Macbeth already is the Chieftain of Glamis. Soon afterwards, the two meet a messenger who tells them that the current King of Scotland has shouted out Macbeth as Chieftain of Cawdor. Macbeth sends a letter to his wife in which he tells her the exciting news. When the king a little later pays a visit to the Macbeths and stays over- night, the couple plans to murder him, so that Macbeth can become his successor. Macbeth is uncertain whether he can really kill his king, but his wife persuades him to do so. The King’s sons then leave the country since they are afraid of a conspiracy against them. And Macbeth becomes king. Like this, the witches’ prophecies towards Macbeth become true and he and his wife have all they have ever asked for. Not to tell you too much about the ending of the story, but the Macbeths soon feel the negative aspects of power as well as guilt, and in the end, Banquo’s prophecy becomes true, too.
As I have already mentioned above, the players have been amazing, but unfortunately most of us could not understand anything except the scene we dealt with in the lessons before. This is due to the facts that they used Shakespearean English, accent, and above all, there were difficulties in the acoustics. Besides that, it has been an interesting experience.
It would be a good idea to deal with Shakespeare’s works in the lesson more often in order to get used to its contents and language.
Friederike Wudka (11/1)
