Macbeth Interactive Game: Teacher Overview

The project works on several “intellectual levels” making it an accessible education tool for children and adults from the age of ten upwards. It is not fixed to any national curriculum; instead it is a dramatised tool for teachers to illustrate the major ideas in the play. All of the text is Shakespearian with each production running from between 26 to 38 minutes.

The Macbeth Interactive Game has been created for use as an educational tool both within and outside of the classroom. It is effective across Key Stages 3, 4 and 5, and meets a range of teaching and learning criteria. It is ideal for both English Literature and Performing Arts students.

Interactive Element and Learning Styles

The Macbeth Interactive Game has been designed to incorporate all three learning styles. Visual Readers are naturally provided for through the written word on the screen and the authentic theatrical scenery. Kinaesthetic learners can participate in the interactive games to really connect with what they are learning. Auditory learners can listen to the story unfold through the video streaming.

Suitable Across Ability Levels

Because some of the puzzles featured within the game are very simple and others are quite difficult, the Macbeth Interactive Game is suitable across ability levels. While the game does focus on the educational aspect of Macbeth and allows for deeper contextual readings at higher level GCSE and A level, it can also be played simply as a fun interactive journey through the play for key stage 3 and 4 students.

Word Games

The Macbeth Interactive Game uses short quizzes and puzzles to test students on what they have learned. The incentives for completing these games are props they will need to put on their own production at the end. After each scene students have the chance to win important items for their journey by completing simple puzzles, choosing the correct answers to questions referring to the text. If they offer incorrect answers they can try again, with or without re-viewing the relevant scene. Some puzzles require students to review quotations from the text, others test their deeper understanding of the characters or scene as a whole.

Memory and Revision Games

The Macbeth Interactive Game is ideal for exam revision. Not only does it test students' knowledge and understanding of the text, it is ideal for helping students to memorise important quotations. Following each scene students are encouraged to win necessary items for their journey by matching quotations to the relevant character, or pairing up quotations that have been broken into phrases. There are also games to test students' understanding of quotations through paraphrasing.

Contextual Analysis

While the Macbeth Interactive Game does put characters and quotations into the context of the play, it also puts the play into the context of Shakespearian London and a virtual Globe, encouraging a new level of understanding in higher ability students. This is an important first step into the realms of literary theory for those going on to study literature further.

Encouraging Background Research

Towards the end of the game students are encouraged to take part in internet research in order to answer questions about Shakespeare and the Elizabethan era. While suitable websites are suggested, students are also encouraged to 'google' their answers, leading to a greater confidence when researching and improved ICT skills.

The Text as a Play and Performing Arts Aspects

At GCSE level Shakespearian plays are often seen merely as texts to be studied. The Macbeth Interactive Game places a new emphasis on the performance aspect of Macbeth, by offering different scenes set in different contexts. There is a traditional production of the text taking place in a virtual Globe Theatre, a modern version, and a Hollywood version. Students can consider the role of costume (or lack thereof) and compare props and scenery as well as the way the actors play their characters. This allows for a far deeper reading of the text.

Shakespeare's Globe and the Production of Plays

Perhaps most importantly from a Performing Arts perspective, the Macbeth Interactive Game has reconstructed the Globe theatre as it was in the London of Shakespeare's day, complete with audience. Within the game you are asked to explore the Globe then answer questions about the different areas both on and off stage. It should also be noted that the aim of the game overall is to collect the relevant props and enough money to stage your own production of Macbeth. The money raised must cover every aspect of production, from make-up and costumes to scenery, crew and actors' wages. This allows for a truer understanding of what goes into the assembly of a full production.