Shakespeare's Macbeth for Kids: 3 Short Melodramatic Plays for 3 Group Sizes

To play or not to play? That is the question...and the answer, of course, is PLAY!!! Especially, when you're playing around with one of Brendan Kelso's plays. My fifth graders performed Macbeth this past week, and it was a tremendous hit. From Lady Macbeth snatching the crown away from Macbeth (she's got quite a power struggle going on), wandering around the stage wearing red gloves, and dying dramatically offstage to witches reciting "Something wicked this way comes", there's enough Shakespeare and humor going around for everyone. Our theatrical production was the culminating project for a nine weeks unit on Shakespeare for my fifth grade gifted learners. The parents were thrilled that their children were studying Shakespeare, quoting Shakespeare, and asking for Shakespeare at home. I truly feel that my students will look forward to learning more about Shakespeare as they progress in school.My students also performed A Midsummer Night's Dream and Romeo and Juliet. The plays are adapted for group size, include actual lines from Shakespeare, and make kids enjoy performing great works. They were very easy to stage - its amazing what you can do with a few foam swords, a Burger King costume, and some plaid cloth from the dollar table at Wal-Mart.His books are a bargain in cost, and a luxury in value to classroom instruction. Now, if he would just get Hamlet and a few other plays written for us to use next year, all would be well!

I cannot express enough how amazing this book is and how incredibly helpful Brendan Kelso is.First off, these scripts are just fun! Brendan has done an amazing job of relating to a younger generation and letting them get a glimpse into this man Shakespeare.Second, I purchased this script for a middle school competition piece. We are planning to take it to the Texas Renaissance Festival. After contacting Brendan about royalty rights, we proceeded to chat through email. He discovered that his script was a few minutes too long for my time limit. He then proceeded to volunteer to cut the script for me... I had a personalized cut script within the hour!! Talk about customer service!!!If you have ever considered introducing a group to Shakespeare, I HIGHLY recommend these scripts. You will not be disappointed!!

I was teaching theater to a group of teens for 6 weeks. This was the perfect length for them. I started the class with an explanation of Macbeth I found in "Shakespear for Dummies" so the kids better understood each character and what role they play. After that, they had fun with this play and the short scripts to memorize. If you dont have much time to work on a play, but you want to have the kids experience some Shakespeare, this is the book for you.

I used Macbeth for Kids with a mixed Y3/4 class of 7 - 9 year olds, as part of two units of work on performance poetry and play scripts. It really appealed to the children, who found it funny and easy to follow, and for me it was just fabulous - it really brought together all our learning and was manageable for me as a script, fitting our (tight!) timescale perfectly. A wonderful mix of original lines from Shakespeare and well thought out synopses to provide an abridged and child friendly version which never loses sight of the original. Easy to perform with minimal props, you can tell the author has the children at the heart of his thinking in writing this - marvellous!

I recently received my copy of "Shakespeare's Macbeth for Kids: 3 Short Melodramatic Plays for 3 Group Sizes" and it is awesome!As a teacher, new to teaching Drama, and needing to get my students excited about Shakespeare for a school trip planned this year, I couldn't have found a better resource!There are classic lines quoted from Shakespeare's original plays so students get the feel of the language, but also lots of great common language that students will be able to understand and have so much fun with. I know they will love Shakespeare!Thanks so much Mr. Kelso!