Best version of Macbeth to watch for GCSE

[weightandmeasure]

I've said I'll sit down with DD over Easter and watch Macbeth with her. It's one of her GCSE texts and she's struggling with it. The school seems to teach it it a very disjointed way and we've come to the conclusion she's not got proper understanding of how it all fits. However there are a lot of different film versions available. Any recommendations on one that will best help a reluctant GCSE student? We think it's between the recent The Tragedy of Macbeth with Denzel Washington (gets great reviews) and the one with Micheal Fassbender from 2015 which is supposed to be pretty faithful to the script. DD quite fancies the Denzel version but has anyone seen it and is it relatively faithful to the play or will it confuse her?

Try www.rsc.org.uk/macbeth/ for resources and activities. The Eccleston version is available on Marquee TV to stream and also as a DVD on Amazon. She should also ensure she has committed a number of quotations to memory. If you google TES Top 50 Macbeth quotations you’ll find a version to download. The CGP revision guides for your specific exam board are worth a look as well.

@MrsCobbit

The RSC resources are great. I personally use the RSC Christopher Eccleston version.

I saw this at the theatre and it was amazing. The Patrick Stewart one somehow didn't do it for me. The Denzel Washington one is good atmospherically but not that faithful text-wise.

@Netty909

I remember reading the whole play then watching The Roman Polanski version during our English lessons whilst studying for GCSE,though we were surprised when Keith Chegwin popped up in it. A study guide was really helpful explaining words and phrases helped. I haven't seen any new versions, think it put me off !

Sorry. Did you say Keith Chegwin? Seriously? That's decided it for me 😃

If you're near London there's an (abridged) live run of Macbeth on at the Globe theatre over the Easter holidays.

www.shakespearesglobe.com/whats-on/playing-shakespeare-with-deutsche-bank-macbeth-2022/

The Christopher Eccleston one was brilliant. Really engaged DS (also a Dr Who fan) and he 'got' the language. He asked to watch the rest of the Shakespeare plays being streamed, then started watching The Hollow Crown. His English teacher was really impressed with his ideas & discussions in class after that.

I really enjoyed the National Theatre version with Kenneth Branagh and Alex Kingston (2013). Have a look on the NT At Home website to see if it's available.

Ditto to PP, there are several Shakespeare plays on the NT At Home website - Midsummer Night's Dream (Gwendoline Christie from GoT as Titania), Twelfth Night (Tamsin Grieg from Friday Night Dinner etc as Makvolio), Coriolanus (Tom Hiddleston as C).

Tonnes of other things too. You can pay per view, buy a pass for a month or year.

I bought my DS a comic book version of Macbeth to help him to see it as a story and to get an overview of the narrative. It really helped him to understand the basics of what’s going on so he can link in the stuff that he studies in class.

The Branagh & Eccleston versions are both excellent.
But, if you are able to get to any UK city (after all, there are no longer any Covid restrictions), it is worth trying to find a current production - there is no substitute for live theatre.

I'm an actor, and I've done Macbeth several times. Does she have any specific questions? I might be able to help.

Also, I sometimes work with a company that go into schools and perform the GCSE plays for the students, usually with a workshop afterwards. Might be worth asking the school if they'd consider booking something like that? Doesn't have to be hugely expensive - the director of the one I work with has been known to perform Macbeth with just him and one other actor when schools have wanted to keep costs down.

If she simply wants to get an idea of how the plot and characters hang together, I would really recommend the animated tales version (available on YouTube). It's an abridged version, only about half an hour or so long, but it has the most important bits of dialogue and is great at giving you a sense of the play as a whole. I use it as an introduction to Macbeth for my GCSE students and it's really useful. She'll get much more out of full productions if she has a good understanding of the plot first. I also agree with watching as many different versions as possible to see different interpretations. The National Theatre has some great filmed stage versions which you can rent online.

I did Macbeth for A level many moons ago, and we watched the televised Trevor Nunn version with Judi Dench and Ian McKellen. It’s on YouTube.
m.youtube.com/watch?v=IgEshHhnLqU

I saw the Roman Polanski version in early 80s when studying Macbeth for O level.

Best one for me. Watched a few for 2 DCs GCSE and not a patch.

Inspector Calls does the rounds at theatres which is always full for children being dragged along by parents purely for GSCE

I'm glad that sold it to you Going off topic I watched an interview with Keith a few years ago and he talked about filming this and said that Roman Polanski wanted him and Martin Shaw to rehearse a fight scene with no pants on but they said no as it was too weird! I think he was so funny and a great actor.

Does anyone know the channel 4 cartoon versions of many of Shakespeare's plays? Thought these were really good at presenting the story, quite short, about 40 minutes i think.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Macbeth-English-Literature-Grades-Revision/dp/1407183532/ref=ascdff_1407183532/?tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=430933667917&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=131166623701363308&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=1006868&hvtargid=pla-923984227858&psc=1&th=1&psc=1&tag=&ref=&adgrpid=97419296542&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvadid=430933667917&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=131166623701363308&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=1006868&hvtargid=pla-923984227858

There are ones for other exam boards too.

Once she's nailed the story down (I'd say Polanski, too), she might enjoy Three Hours by Rosamund Lupton - it's a thrlller about a school shooting in a private school, but the students are caught in the school theatre rehearsing Macbeth and there are interesting ideas about the play threaded through it. I always found it useful to read interpretations of texts I had to study through fiction - she might find it helps, too.

Thank you OP! DS is about to study it (Year 10) so I’ve been looking for productions. Whoever posted the Globe link, you are a life saver

I studied it at A Level and I listened to my grandparents’ ancient vinyl LP of a 1950s production full of hammy actors especially Lady M and her “What?? In OURRRR house????????????”

That’s stayed with me all these years. Got an A though.

I thought the RSC Eccleston one was just ok, but I watched 3 Macbeths that year and the one at the Globe (if you can access it with Michelle Terry as Lady Macbeth performed in the Sam Wanamaker) was fantastic and helpful. I wonder if the Almeida have playback of their recent production with Saoirse Ronan - that was magnificent. I agree with everyone Polanski is a good place to start - the BBC adaptations where James
McAvoy played Macbeth were very good. They did bring costume and setting into modern times, but for the story and to ‘get it’ I think those BBC versions are second to none.

Another vote for the Fassbender version here with the subtitles on! On Amazon Prime
Followed up with the Polanski version
Don’t bother with the ready made flash cards but worth asking the school if they have any. We do and we then work with these in revision lessons.

The Polanski Macbeth got me through my O level. That's how old I am but without it I think I would probably have failed.

OP - I would actually suggest to DD that she gets some friends together, divides up roles and act out / read aloud macbeth as a group. Have a bit of fun and silliness doing it. It's what we did as a class about 25 years ago when we were studying for O levels. It really made the story stick, and you 'got' the interaction between characters. I see that they tried in on Teams - can't imagine that worked well.
. I watched the Polanski film too in English class ...

Have you got this book OP?
www.amazon.co.uk/Tales-Shakespeare-Macbeth-Charles-Lamb/dp/095429050X?tag=mumsnetforu03-21

This might be a bit off the wall, but my favourite was a 1990s version called Macbeth on the Estate - you can get it on YouTube last time I checked.

It’s set on a 1990s inner city estate in London but completely authentic language; albeit in a Brummie accent!

Horrible history crew do a book that might help her break it down in a young adult friendly way.

Thank you so much everyone.
Some amazing resources and suggestions. DD and I really appreciate the time people took to respond and the thoughtful suggestions.