Little Angel Theatre
Presents
Education and Participation Resource Pack
Written by Sarah Schofield
Little Angel Theatre
14 Dagmar Passage, Islington, London, N1 2DN
0207 226 1787
www.littleangeltheatre.com
Little Angel Theatre
Introduction to the Pack and Other Useful
Resources
This pack is designed to support your visit to the
show and includes information and resources about
the process of creating this production of Macbeth,
the decisions that were made in the research and
development stages, the designing and puppet
making stages and the rehearsal rooms.
‘No Fear Shakespeare’ books give you the
complete text of Macbeth on the left-hand
page, side-by-side with an easy-to-understand
translation on the right. The ‘No Fear’ series
also includes graphic novels.
The pack includes suggestions for activities related
to the production that are geared towards Key Stage
Three but could be adapted for older or younger
pupils.
Our production is an edited version of the full length play
using Shakespeare’s words and this pack contains
extracts from the script. Within it we have created a
resource of activities which act as ways in to the
language, play and themes for you and your students. We
believe the best way for young people to explore
Shakespeare’s texts is physically.
This pack is designed to help you explore the plot,
characters and themes in our version of Macbeth in your
own school.
The suggested activities can be done in your classroom
(or hall or studio space) either before you come to see the
show, afterwards, or a combination of both.
Manga Shakespeare: Macbeth £7.99
available from the RSC website
Illustrated by leading UK manga artists, this
series feeds into the growing popularity of
manga worldwide, and presents
Shakespeare's classic works in a highly visual
and dynamic form. This is the perfect platform
for a new generation to fall in love with
Shakespeare's genius.
Other resources you might find useful when
practically teaching Shakespeare with
students can be found on the RSC website.
www.rsc.org.uk/education
Little Angel Theatre
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John Wright
Theatre founder
Little Angel Theatre
Background Information
The Little Angel Theatre
Little Angel Theatre
Dedicated to Puppetry
John Wright, the founder of Little Angel Theatre was
born in South Africa in 1906. He travelled to England in
1935 and worked as an assistant stage manager for the
Ballet Rambert while studying at the Central School of
Art and Design. It was during this time he saw a puppet
performance by Podrecca’s Piccoli and became
hooked. John made his very first puppet in 1938.
He returned to South Africa at the outbreak of the
Second World War and continued to make and perform
with puppets in his home country. When the war ended
he returned to England, overland, performing with his
puppets along the way.
In 1961 John and his troupe found a derelict
temperance hall in Islington and transformed it into a
magical little theatre, specially designed for the
presentation of marionette shows. It opened on
Saturday 24th November 1961 as ‘The Little Angel
Marionette Theatre’. This was to be the first purpose
built puppet theatre the country had seen for many
years and the only one with a permanent long string
marionette bridge constructed backstage. The bridge
was designed for puppeteers to stand on while they
manipulate long stringed puppets who perform on the
stage below leaving the audience unable to see the
puppeteers. The original bridge is used to this day.
The theatre has a traditional ‘proscenium arch’ and
seats 100 audience members.
Caliban
puppet from
our 2011
production of
The Tempest
in
collaboration
with The Royal
Shakespeare
Company
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Over the next 30 years, the Little Angel team
created and performed over 30 full-scale
shows, with John and his wife Lyndie
designing, making, performing and directing
as they established Little Angel as ‘The Home
of British Puppetry.’ Little Angel shows were
taken to 23 International Festivals,
representing Britain. John Wright died in 1991
but the work of the theatre continued apace
with the aim of introducing puppetry to all
ages. Macbeth is part of our biennial
Suspense Festival celebrating puppetry for
adults. www.suspensefestival.com
Little Angel Theatre and Shakespeare
Macbeth is our fourth production of a
Shakespeare piece. The most recent were
both collaborations with the RSC which began
with Venus and Adonis and then followed up
with The Tempest. Both were staged in
Stratford at the RSC and at Little Angel
Theatre with puppets designed and made by
Little Angel Theatre founder member Lyndie
Wright, who also designed the puppets for
Macbeth.
Venus and Adonis puppets by Lyndie
Wright from the 2004 RSC and Little
Angel collaboration
Little Angel Theatre
The Story of Macbeth
Synopsis
Themes
The play opens as three witches plan a meeting with
the Scottish nobleman Macbeth, who at that moment is
fighting in a great battle. When the battle is over,
Macbeth and his friend Banquo come across the
witches who offer them three predictions: that Macbeth
will become Thane of Cawdor and King of Scotland,
and that Banquo's descendants will become kings.
Ambition
Perhaps the most obvious theme in Macbeth is
ambition and we see this with both Macbeth and
Lady Macbeth. They are tempted by the idea that
Macbeth will become king - Macbeth is not sure
what to do but his wife is ruthless in getting what
she wants - she views her husband as a coward
and appears ready to do anything.
Banquo laughs at the prophecies but Macbeth is
excited, especially as soon after their meeting with the
witches Macbeth is made Thane of Cawdor by King
Duncan, in return for his bravery in the battle. He writes
to his wife, Lady Macbeth, who is as excited as he is. A
messenger tells Lady Macbeth that King Duncan is on
his way to their castle and she invokes evil spirits to
help her slay him. Macbeth is talked into killing Duncan
by his wife and stabs him to death. No one is quite sure
who committed this murder and no one feels safe, but
Macbeth is crowned king.
The Supernatural
The idea that there are mysterious forces
controlling what is happening. The very first
characters we meet are the three witches, and
their prophecies are what drives the story forward.
In Shakespeare's time belief in witchcraft was very
strong and many so-called witches were burnt at
the stake. Audiences would have taken these
ideas seriously and felt that Macbeth was
somehow possessed.
Now that Macbeth is king he knows the second
prediction from the witches has come true, but he starts
to fear the third prediction (that Banquo's descendants
will also be kings). Macbeth therefore decides to kill
Banquo and his son, but the plan goes wrong - Banquo
is killed but his son escapes. Macbeth then thinks he is
going mad because he sees Banquo's ghost and
receives more predictions from the witches. He starts to
become ruthless and kills the family of Macduff, an
important lord. Macbeth still thinks he is safe but one by
one the witches' prophecies come true. Lady Macbeth
cannot stop thinking about Duncan, becomes deranged
and dies. A large army marches on Macbeth's castle
and Macbeth is killed by Macduff.
The Witches
introduce the play
and control the
mysterious forces of
the world. They
predict the future and
seem to put Macbeth
under their spell.
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Reality and Appearance
The contrast between what is real and the
appearance of something is also used by
Shakespeare. The classic dagger scene, when
Macbeth is not sure if he can trust his eyes, is only
one of many references to this theme. For
instance, he sees Banquo's ghost at the banquet
and Lady Macbeth imagines blood on her hands.
Loyalty and Guilt
Loyalty and guilt are also strong themes in
Macbeth. Duncan clearly values loyalty - he has
the first Thane of Cawdor executed and rewards
Macbeth by making him the new Thane.
Shakespeare cleverly uses loyalty as a dramatic
device as well - Duncan is in the middle of talking
about 'absolute trust' when Macbeth walks in - we
know he's already thought about killing Duncan,
but for the moment he talks about 'the loyalty I
owe' and his 'duties' to Duncan. Macbeth also
shows his guilt - he is unsure before the murder
and regrets it immediately after. Lady Macbeth is
the opposite - she seems to show no guilt at the
time and even talks about how 'a little water'
cleans away the blood.
Little Angel Theatre
Macbeth with Puppets – Director’s Interview
The first decision faced by Peter Glanville, the script
editor and director, when we decided to put on a
production of a Shakespeare play was which play and
why? This was followed by how to justify turning it into
a production with puppets and which characters would
be represented with puppets?
The decision was made that all the characters in
Macbeth (the chosen play) would be represented by
puppets, and that instead of making puppets of people
the characters would be represented by a variety of
species of birds.
Peter talks about the decisions he made and the
process he followed to visualise this and make it a
reality.
Why choose Macbeth?
When thinking about which Shakespeare to choose we
had to consider why and how we would use puppets.
Macbeth is full of powerful and resonant images that
stand out from the text. The iconic scenes lend
themselves to exploring the fantastical nature of the
text. Puppets often give you the freedom to explore
images and themes that human actors cannot.
They explored the many different types of
puppets that could be used for the characters and
considered how the puppets would hold the
Shakespearian language. We also needed to
consider how the puppets would retain energy in
scenes with long sections of dialogue. Having
explored this issue it became apparent that
focusing on delivering dialogue with puppets
doesn’t really work. So the team began working
with the idea of recording the text and playing it
as an external voice, a device that frees up the
puppets and allows for a more visual narrative.
The second R&D week focused on the major
scenes and where parts could be edited. Time
was spent exploring the strong visual moments
within the piece. From this the idea of reimagining
the witches as bird-like figures arose and the
more the text was explored with this in mind, the
more the bird imagery resonated throughout the
play. This concept developed into all the
characters being portrayed by birds. It was
decided that taking a strong idea, such as the
birds, and fully exploring it’s potential would be a
good way to move forward with a text such as
Macbeth.
What is “research and development” and how is
this important to the development of the piece?
All the productions that are developed at Little Angel
Theatre have a week of research and development (or
R&D). This is the chance for the director, designers and
performers to play around with initial ideas. All
members of the creative team will come into the R&D
having discussed how the music will work, or what style
the puppets will be. The puppet designer will bring
mock up puppets for the performers to play around with
during the week.
What happened in the R&D for Macbeth?
The first stage of R&D saw the company working
through the play text and exploring the relationships
and themes with it.
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The puppeteers using some mock up puppets
and playing around with ideas for how the set
might work in one of the R&D sessions for
Macbeth.
Little Angel Theatre
Character Study
The puppets are all birds, but they carry physical
human features such as hands and feet to allow for a
more diverse range of gestures. Students could think
about why each type of bird might have been chosen to
represent certain characters in more detail, or discuss
other animals that might share characteristics and
represent each main character to help them have a
deeper understanding of the personalities and traits that
motivate them.
Macbeth and Lady Macbeth
Macbeth is represented
by a cockerel with a bird
like face but a very
human shape body. His
cloak could also
represent wings and the
design of his comb and
costume have an amour
like quality. Cockerels
‘rule the roost’ and in a
flock of chickens there
will be one dominant
cockerel.
Individual chickens in a flock will dominate others,
establishing a "pecking order", with dominant
individuals having priority for food access and nesting
locations. Removing hens or cocks from a flock causes
a temporary disruption to this social order until a new
pecking order is established. This mirrors Macbeth and
Lady Macbeth’s ambition and ruthlessness to remove
all competition and become ‘cock of the roost’.
The vicious
images of a
cock fight
mirror the
bloody one to
one conflicts
that would
have taken
place on the
battlefields of
Scotland.
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Lady Macbeth, dressed in pure white, fuels her
husband’s ambition and determination to reach the
top of the social hierarchy order by encouraging
him to fight and kill for dominance in the ‘flock’.
Her position as queen makes her second in the
overall pecking order but the top of the female
chain.
In Indonesia the chicken has great significance
during the Hindu cremation ceremony when
someone dies. A chicken is considered a channel
for evil spirits which may be present during the
ceremony. A chicken is tethered by the leg and
kept present at the ceremony for its duration to
ensure that any evil spirits present during the
ceremony go into the chicken and not the family
members present. Lady Macbeth calls on the
spirits to give her the will to undertake the task of
murder:
Lady Macbeth from Act I scene V
The raven himself is hoarse
That croaks the fatal entrance of Duncan
Under my battlements. Come, you spirits
That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here,
And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full
Of direst cruelty! make thick my blood;
Stop up the access and passage to remorse,
That no compunctious visitings of nature
Shake my fell purpose, nor keep peace between
The effect and it! Come to my woman's breasts,
And take my milk for gall, you murdering ministers,
Wherever in your sightless substances
You wait on nature's mischief! Come, thick night,
And pall thee in the dunnest smoke of hell,
That my keen knife see not the wound it makes,
Nor heaven peep through the blanket of the dark,
To cry 'Hold, hold!'
Chickens and Cockerels will fight to the death if
necessary to hold or increase their place in the
pecking order, as represented in the final scene
where Macbeth and Macduff shed all their human
characteristics and revert both physically and
mentally into their bird types as they battle to the
death.
Visit the Macbeth page of our website or YouTube to
watch a film with Lyndie Wright (puppet designer)
talking about the puppet designs from this production.
Little Angel Theatre
Character Study
King Duncan and his Sons
The Three Witches
The witches were the starting point for the bird motif as
Peter (Director) and Lyndie (Puppet Designer) had
begun with the idea of representing the witches with
puppets of crows or ravens (birds that both have links
with the occult, death and superstition). From this the
idea that the other characters could be represented by
birds developed. The bodies of the witches are flowing
and simple allowing the puppeteers to incorporate their
own hands if necessary for intricate gestures or to give
them a more spectral floating appearance.
The puppets that developed for the witches ended up
being the least like any real breed of bird, with their
expressive faces and teeth they most closely represent
some kind of vulture, but are more ghoul like than bird
like. By casting three female puppeteers Peter made
the deliberate decision to highlight the theme of the
power of the female characters. The costumes and
make up worn by the puppeteers mirror the
representation of the witches. As the puppeteers
‘manipulate’ the other characters we can see the power
the witches hold over Macbeth and Banquo as they play
out the predictions. Macbeth literally becomes their
puppet as he is controlled and overpowered by the
promise of the prophesies, not forgetting the influence
of his power hungry wife.
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One of the
swan puppets
under
construction in
our workshop.
The royal
family are
represented
by a mature
swan for King
Duncan and
two cygnets
representing
his son’s
Malcolm and
Ross.
The link between swans and royalty manifests itself
in two ways. The swans are the most regal of
water birds, their long graceful neck and serene
presence as they glide through the water give the
impression of a royal cavalcade. Swans are often
used to represent royalty in stories, mythology and
art. Their link as a royal bird is also connected to
the fact that the English monarchy traditionally
retains the right to ownership of all unmarked mute
swans in open water. The practice of ‘swan upping’
began in the 12th century, as swans were a
common food source for royalty, who wanted to
stake their claim on the birds. The tradition of
catching and tagging the birds in the name of the
monarchy continues today along the River Thames,
however the data is used for conservation purposes
and swans are no longer eaten by anyone,
including royalty.
Swans are fiercely loyal and protective birds. They
mate for life and will become extremely aggressive
whenever they or their family are under threat.
They are physically strong and powerful birds. King
Duncan admires and rewards loyalty in others and
harshly punishes ‘traitors’. Ironically the person
who he has recently rewarded for their great loyalty
is the one who ends his life.
Little Angel Theatre
Exploring the text using drama and puppetry
Peter made the decision to have a recorded
soundtrack of the text rather than the puppeteers
speaking the words live. This enabled the two
elements to be focused on as almost separate
entities, and then brought together to complement
each other. The puppeteers are able to focus on
the subtleties of the movement rather than
remembering lines, and the artists who delivered
the text could focus on the nuances and rhythms of
the speech which the puppeteers could then tune in
to in their manipulation. The characters in our
production
are
voiced
by
experienced
Shakespearian actors. The voice artists came to
the theatre to watch a rehearsal and meet and
familiarise themselves with the puppets their voices
would bring to life before recording the soundtrack.
The music was also developed gradually as the
piece developed and once James, the composer,
was able to see each scene and hear the delivery
of the artists.
Look at key extracts of text from the play discussing
the meaning and record them being delivered.
Another option would be to listen to pre-recorded
extracts (www.booksshouldbefree.com offer a free
audio version of Macbeth for download). Examples of
suitable extracts are on the following pages.
Ask pupils to animate the words using puppetry as
they are spoken on the recording. The following
pages offer ideas of how to create extremely simple
puppets with very little or no materials and how this
will help them understand the text they are working
with more deeply
Using frozen images to begin to understand the
feelings behind the text

Ask students to walk around the space. Explain
that you will call out a number which represents
the size of the group. Once they are in a group of
the correct size made up of the people nearest to
them call out a theme for a frozen image.
1. Group size 5 – Two friends receive surprising and
shocking news
2. Group size 2 – A couple reunited after a long time
apart
3. Group size 2- Two ex-friends meeting for the first
time after a big fall out

Helen McCrory familiarises herself with the Lady
Macbeth puppet. Donald Sumpter (King Duncan),
Helen McCrory (Lady Macbeth) and Nathaniel Parker
(Macbeth) outside Little Angel Theatre.
Peter wanted to bring Shakespeare’s words to life
using puppets as a tool to do this, allowing the
audience to listen to the carefully recorded voices
almost as poetry along with the visual
manifestations in the form of the puppets.
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Now ask the class to recreate their images in the
same groups and hand out a line of text (given
below) to each. The groups will need time to
discuss which character will be speaking the line,
what alterations need to be made and how the text
will be incorporated.
Friends receiving news: Good sir, why do you start;
and seem to fear things that do sound so fair?
Couple: My dearest love
Ex friends: Of all men else I have avoided thee:
But get thee back; my soul is too much charged
With blood of thine already.
Little Angel Theatre
Text Examples
From MACBETH
By William Shakespeare – Edited by Peter Glanville
MACBETH
So foul and fair a day I have not seen.
BANQUO
What are these
So wither'd and so wild in their attire,
That look not like the inhabitants o' the earth,
And yet are on't? Live you? or are you aught
That man may question? You seem to understand me,
MACBETH
Speak, if you can: what are you?
First Witch
All hail, Macbeth! hail to thee, thane of Glamis!
Second Witch
All hail, Macbeth, hail to thee, thane of Cawdor!
Third Witch
All hail, Macbeth, thou shalt be king hereafter!
BANQUO
Good sir, why do you start; and seem to fear
Things that do sound so fair? I' the name of truth,
Are ye fantastical, or that indeed
Which outwardly ye show? My noble partner
You greet with present grace and great prediction
Of noble having and of royal hope,
That he seems rapt withal: to me you speak not.
If you can look into the seeds of time,
And say which grain will grow and which will not,
Speak then to me, who neither beg nor fear
Your favours nor your hate.
First Witch
Hail!
Second Witch
Hail!
Third Witch
Hail!
First Witch
Lesser than Macbeth, and greater.
Second Witch
Not so happy, yet much happier.
Third Witch
Thou shalt get kings, though thou be none:
So all hail, Macbeth and Banquo!
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Extract 1:
Begin by reading through the extract line
by line. What does each line mean?
What tone of voice and emotion would
you associate with each line?
The witches deliver the first prophecy.
Group size: 5
Characters: Macbeth, Banquo, Three
Witches.
Macbeth and Banquo are returning
home after a victory in battle so their
spirits are high, yet the weather is
stormy and the atmosphere dark.
Despite the belief in the supernatural,
which was common in these times,
Macbeth and Banquo would have been
surprised to come across the three
unearthly creatures.
Banquo is surprised by Macbeth’s
physical response to the predictions.
Macbeth seems frozen and mute.
Which key themes does this extract
highlight? Which words, phrases or
actions illustrate this?
 Ambition?
 The supernatural?
 Reality and appearance?
 Loyalty and guilt?
Little Angel Theatre
Text Examples
From MACBETH
By William Shakespeare – Edited by Peter
Glanville
MACBETH
My dearest love,
Duncan comes here to-night.
Extract 2:
Begin by reading through the extract line by line.
What does each line mean? What tone of voice
and emotion would you associate with each line?
Macbeth and Lady Macbeth plan to murder
Duncan
LADY MACBETH
And when goes hence?
Group size: 2
Characters: Macbeth and Lady Macbeth.
MACBETH
To-morrow, as he purposes.
LADY MACBETH
O, never
Shall sun that morrow see!
Your face, my thane, is as a book where men
May read strange matters. To beguile the time,
Look like the time; bear welcome in your eye,
Your hand, your tongue: look like the innocent
flower,
But be the serpent under't. He that's coming
Must be provided for: and you shall put
This night's great business into my dispatch;
Which shall to all our nights and days to come
Give solely sovereign sway and masterdom.
Macbeth has returned home. He has sent a letter
ahead to his wife to tell her about the prophesies
and already she is making plans to speed up
Macbeth’s rise to take the crown, and suggests
that they murder the king.
MACBETH
We will speak further.
LADY MACBETH
Only look up clear;
To alter favour ever is to fear:
Leave all the rest to me.
Which key themes does this extract highlight?
Which words, phrases or actions illustrate this?







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Ambition?
The supernatural?
Reality and appearance?
Loyalty and guilt?
Little Angel Theatre
Text Examples
From MACBETH
By William Shakespeare – Edited by Peter
Glanville
MACDUFF
Turn, hell-hound, turn!
Extract 3:
Begin by reading through the extract line by line. What
does each line mean? What tone of voice and
emotion would you associate with each line?
Macbeth and Macduff meet in the final battle
MACBETH
Of all men else I have avoided thee:
But get thee back; my soul is too much charged
With blood of thine already.
I bear a charmed life, which must not yield,
To one of woman born.
MACDUFF
Despair thy charm;
And let the angel whom thou still hast served
Tell thee, Macduff was from his mother's womb
Untimely ripp'd.
Group size: 2
Characters: Macbeth and Macduff.
Macbeth knows that an army has come to overthrow
him as King, lead by Duncan’s sons and Macduff. He
has also been told by the witches that he cannot be
killed by any man ‘woman born’, so he is confident that
he is safe – Until he hears that Macduff was born by
caesarian section and from his mother’s womb
‘untimely ripp’d.’
MACBETH
Accursed be that tongue that tells me so,
For it hath cow'd my better part of man!
I'll not fight with thee.
MACDUFF
Then yield thee, coward,
And live to be the show and gaze o' the time:
We'll have thee, as our rarer monsters are,
Painted on a pole, and underwrit,
'Here may you see the tyrant.'
MACBETH
I will not yield,
To kiss the ground before young Malcolm's feet,
And to be baited with the rabble's curse.
Though Birnam wood be come to Dunsinane,
And thou opposed, being of no woman born,
Yet I will try the last. Before my body
I throw my warlike shield. Lay on, Macduff,
And damn'd be him that first cries, 'Hold,
enough!'
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Which key themes does this extract highlight?
Which words, phrases or actions illustrate this?
 Ambition?

 The supernatural?

 Reality and appearance?

 Loyalty and guilt?
Little Angel Theatre
Making and Using Puppets
Once you have a recording of the text extract
Ask the students to use puppets to represent
the characters and create images to go with
the extract they have been working on.
How to make the puppets
Plastic bag puppet
Using something as simple as a supermarket
plastic bag you can create a puppet. Pull the bag
through your hand to make it long and thin. Fold
one end over to make a ‘head’. Keep the head in
a pinch hold, or secure it with tape or a rubber
band. You can sculpt the ‘head’ to make it look
more hood like. As you become more confident
with the idea of creating a character you can play
with the shape a bit more to create limbs. By
widening the body and using another puppeteer
to hold the ‘feet’ you can make your puppet walk,
and bring in hand gestures.
What kind of puppet?
As an introduction to puppetry, ‘table top’ puppets
are a good way in. The puppets are performed on a
‘playboard’ (or table!) and can be manipulated by
one puppeteer (holding the back of the head and
one arm) or with an extra puppeteer to help work the
feet.
Newspaper and masking tape puppet
Using more than one puppeteer allows for more
detailed movement.
By scrunching, folding and
rolling sheets of newspaper
you can make very quick
puppets. Use masking tape
to secure and join. You
could use sticks or rods to
help with manipulation, or
as pictured above, the
puppeteers can hold the
puppet directly on the body.
This kind of puppet can be
made to different scales.
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Don’t worry about adding facial features or costume.
The students will need to rely on the subtlety of their
puppets’ body language to support the meaning of
the text. This means they have to really think hard
about each phrase, movement, posture and gesture
to reflect the emotion behind the words as they are
being delivered. Refer back to the frozen images
they created with their own bodies and work more
on this if the students are struggling with the
puppets, then come back to the puppets.
Little Angel Theatre
An Introduction to Puppetry Performance
Before asking the pupils to interpret
Shakespeare’s words using puppetry there
are a few exercises you can practice to get
them used to animating objects and working
with puppets.
Hold up your finger in front of your nose with the
puppet bag staring into your eyes, move your finger
and have the puppet follow this movement with its
gaze, bring your finger back to the tip of your nose to
check if the puppet has followed this movement.
Plastic Bag Exploration Exercise
Practice in pairs with one person being the seeing
puppet bag, and the other being the finger that the
puppet is focusing on.
Let this finger beckon the puppet and lead it about the
room.
For this exercise you need a large open space
and a plastic bag for each participant. Plastic
bags should have handles and be about thigh
high from the floor.




Look at bag and explore as if you have
never seen a plastic bag before in your
life. Play with the bag and experiment
with how it moves and how it can
transform.
Groups of 2 or 3 - Find 3 different ways to
move a bag from 1 point to another no
rules.
Watch examples of each others work
Discuss interesting outcomes or how
improvements could be made
Focus also relies on the puppeteer being focused
on their puppet. This not only helps the puppeteer
concentrate on the movements their puppet is
making, but also helps the audience focus on the
puppet rather than the puppeteer. We follow the
gaze of the puppeteer onto the puppet.
In pairs with a puppet each have one lead the other on
a journey of discovery around the space, be
completely focused on the puppet. Switch over so that
both puppets have a chance to lead.
Puppet Performing Tips

Focus
Focus involves thinking about where the
puppet is ‘looking’ and being aware of that all
the time. You can continue to use a plastic
bag. Fold one corner over to create a head.
Hold the puppet by the back of the neck.


Exercises
Find the exact point when the bag puppet is
staring you in the eyes - hold the moment, feel
yourself being watched.
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
The puppeteer should focus on the puppet at
all times.
Keep the puppet alive! Like an actor puppets
should react to whatever is going on and stay in
character throughout a scene. Don’t let the
puppet ‘droop!’
Slow down! Puppetry is often more effective if
movements are slow and careful – this also
helps to highlight moments of panic when
things do need to speed up.
Body language is important. As your puppets
face cannot move think about body positions
that show different emotions. Try it yourself
first. How could you show you are happy or sad
without using your facial expression? How
would you do it? – Now try and recreate that
with your puppet.
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Additional Activities
After seeing our version of the play:
There is a wealth of bird imagery in Macbeth,
some of which was used in our production and
more that can be found in the full length play
including some examples below:

Write a review of the production.

What is your view about the use of
birds to represent the characters?
Focus on one character and talk about
how the representation of their
character as a bird is expressed and
what this adds/takes away from your
understanding?
If you were the director are there any
parts of the production you would
change or re-design? Explain why?
Which element of the production was
most effective? Why?



Puppet Design
Design puppets for some of the characters
that didn’t feature in our production. How
would you represent them as a bird? Why?



Porter - The drunken doorman of
Macbeth’s castle
An English doctor
Gentlewoman attending on Lady Macbeth
Immediately after Lady Macbeth reads her
husband's letter about the witches' prophecies, a
messenger comes with the news that King Duncan
is coming to spend the night at her castle. After the
messenger has left, the first thing Lady Macbeth
says is, "The raven himself is hoarse / That croaks
the fatal entrance of Duncan / Under my
battlements" (1.5.38-40). The raven is a bird of ill
omen, and Lady Macbeth means that the raven is
hoarse from saying again and again that King
Duncan must die.
As Macduff is going in to say good morning to King
Duncan, Lennox tells Macbeth about the rough
night. Chimneys were blown down, lamentings and
screams were heard in the air, and "the obscure
bird / Clamour'd the livelong night" (2.3.60-61). The
owl is the "obscure bird," because it flies in the
night and can't be seen. Perhaps that owl was the
same one that Lady Macbeth heard when Macbeth
was killing King Duncan. Just after Lennox finishes
this speech, Macduff comes rushing in with the
news that King Duncan has been murdered.
In her shock at learning that her husband has fled
from Scotland, Lady Macduff accuses her husband
of running away because he is afraid. She thinks
he should have stayed to protect his family, and
she says, "He loves us not; / He wants the natural
touch: for the poor wren, / The most diminutive of
birds, will fight, / Her young ones in her nest,
against the owl" (4.2.8-11).
Look for other examples from the text that use
bird imagery and think about why Shakespeare
has chosen to use it? What do the various
birds symbolise and how does this help the
audience understand the meaning he is trying
to convey?
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Little Angel Theatre
Resources and Web Links
Useful Resources
www.littleangeltheatre.com
More information about the history of the theatre and future puppet shows and workshops, including our
school menu
Workshop – Introduction to puppetry performance in secondary schools/youth settings
A practical workshop delivered over one day or three 2 hour sessions. Participants explore puppetry as a
performance technique, learning new skills including how to create simple puppets and use object animation
effectively within performance. Suitable for age 11– adult.
Cost: £300 + VAT for one day/£440 + VAT for three 2 hour sessions
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SDTOIQPP1U
You tube link to film ‘Macbeth – Behind the scenes with Lyndie Wright’ also look for ‘Macbeth – behind the
scenes with Peter Glanville’.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LC9G_CZVAL8
Link to the BBC’s Shakespeare’s Animated tales Macbeth part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ZQOyiHDptU
Link to the BBC’s Shakespeare’s Animated tales Macbeth part 2
www.suspensefestival.com
Suspense London Puppetry Festival celebrating puppetry for adults
www.rsc.org.uk/education
Education resources linked to the plays of Shakespeare including Macbeth
www.facebook.com
Make friends with Little Angel Theatre to keep up to date with the latest news
Little Angel Theatre Puppetry Scheme of Work
Including detailed lesson plans and templates for delivering puppetry in the primary classroom with links to
literacy £7
Contact:
[email protected]
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