We ran three workshops with Year 6 pupils at Bowerham Community Primary School. We kick-started with our Witches workshop which consisted of close textual analysis of supernatural elements in Macbeth. Having explored the possible contribution of the witches in the play, the pupils drew up an ingredients list of what they would put in their own spell. They then had the opportunity to write up and perform this spell back to the class armed with a witch’s hat, a cauldron, and a handful of creepy crawlies. It was brilliant to see the diverse range of spells the pupils conjured up: from love positions, to three-headed minions, to a monster mash! The pupils gave really positive feedback on the workshop describing it as ‘fun’, ‘imaginative’, ‘exciting’, ‘loved the gruesome spells’ and ‘creative’.

The following two workshops run by Alison Findlay moved from Shakespeare’s language in Sonnet 12 and in Henry IV Part II  to an energetic performance workshop on Macbeth which focussed on the relationship between Lady Macbeth and Macbeth before and after the murder of Duncan, with much use of fake blood. Again very positive feedback from the students included comments that the drama workshop was ‘epic’, ‘awesome’, ‘really fun’, ‘this was the best acting I’ve done in school’ and ‘gruesome and strange’.

The Bowerham pupils’ enthusiasm and energy made the workshops a great success.