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Middle School
Shakespeare’s England
The Scottish Play with Michael Stuhlbarg
Day 25

The ProjectExplorer team had the great pleasure of meeting actor Michael Stuhlbarg today. Michael shared a scene from Shakespeare's Macbeth.  

Watching him take such care with the language and creating such intensity in the scene made me wish we were seeing the entire play! I think Michael not only shows just how easy it is to understand Shakespeare, but also how effortless it can be...or at least seem.  

Most of the play is written in blank verse. Shakespeare does a lot with language to add meaning to the words of a speech. So, if Shakespeare doesn't make sense on the page, it helps to read it out loud.

Macbeth is one of Shakespeare's most popular plays. It is a tragedy about people who want power and will stop at nothing to get it. People who work in theatre think that the play is unlucky. Some actors think that the witches' spells are real and if spoken will bring evil, it is filled with corruption and murder. Most actors will call it "The Scottish Play". Those that are superstitious think that saying the name of the play inside a theatre will bring bad bad luck for the actors and the production.

"Double, double, toil and trouble; fire, burn; and caldron, bubble." (from Shakespeare's Macbeth; Act 4, Scene I)

I hope you enjoy Michael's performance as much as I did!

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