Shakespeare's Macbeth for Kids: 3 Short Melodramatic Plays for 3 Group Sizes (Playing With Plays)

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!!

This book contains three versions of the play for groups of 6 to 9 actors, 9 to 12 actors, and 12 to 17 actors. The authors goal is to make the stories easy to understand for children, it is Brendan Kelso words with a splash of Shakespeare's lingo. He encourages actors to improvise rather than memorize the lines verbatim. The text is modernized including references to email. Fun and well done!Ali Julia review

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.

(BANQUO is standing on stage tying his shoe or something like that. MURDERER enters)MURDERER: Hey, you Banquo?BANQUO: Yeah, who are you?MURDERER: Murderer.BANQUO: Uh oh. (BANQUO is killed.)I'm 12 years old, and I played the main character Macbeth. I loved the humor in this book. Kelso is an excellent writer. I have started reading the original Macbeth, and I understand almost completely. My goal is to act in every sing play that he writes. I love his plays, and I know that you will too. Keep on writing Brendan Kelso!

I've been wanting to introduce my students to Shakespeare many times over the years but never really found the best mix of length, actual Shakespearean lines, and understandable English. Brendan Kelso's attempt was a BIG HIT with my 5th graders! They LOVED learning about Shakespeare with this non-threatening text and after performing it, and watching two other plays by other groups, I asked them if they enjoyed doing these plays--and the answer was a RESOUNDING YES! Also, several shouted, "Can we do another one?!" That's the best recommendation I can give. And yes, we will be doing some more!

AWESOME! Just performed Macbeth last night and it was as successful as it was fun! I am all for exposing kids to Shakespeare at a young age and this is the perfect vehicle to do so. Kids become familiar with the plot, actual language...especially the most well known quotes from the play, but the rest is written in modern english and the kids can improvise if needed. I don't think there was a dry eye in the audience as we all laughed so hard. Bravo Mr. Kelso! We can't wait to use another play for our neighborhood summer Shakespeare camp!

The laughter!The death scenes!My kids are addicted to acting out Brendan Kelso's plays. For Macbeth, they did a puppet show. Sometimes they get their cousins or friends to put on a play, or even a scene. The death scenes are the best - fun and memorable! When they're laughing, they're learning.Great, great work Mr. Kelso. More books like this, please.

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 really hated the language. I wanted Shakespeare's language not words like "cool" There is not need to patronise young people. I will not be using this book with my students.

Previously reviewed this at the rehearsal stage with my Youth Group. We have now performed the show and it was a dream to do. The youngsters - aged 9 to 13 years - loved it and the adult audience were so appreciative of their efforts. Many adults commented on the script being both children and adult friendly and how enjoyable it was to have Macbeth presented in this way.

Utter tripe - very disappointing. None of the original text has been retained. Straight to the charity shop.

V good fun acting this out as a family