How to build a Macbeth prop box
Reading Shakespeare plays aloud makes students nervous, but silly props loosen everyone up. Even the toughest and coolest high school seniors smirk when you put a preschooler-sized plastic breastplate around their necks for their battlefield scenes.
These cheap props made classroom readings of Macbeth a lot more fun:
Witch hats and a cauldron: Put a reminder on your calendar to scoop these up at Halloween, because costume-less Weird Sisters make for a very boring start to the play. Bonus points if you get some fake beards and convince your students to wear them too. (If you are in frantic-first-year-teacher mode and have no idea what I mean by that, I’m referencing 1.3 when Banquo says of the witches, “You should be women,/And yet your beards forbid me to interpret/That you are so.”)
Stuff to go in the cauldron: I happened to have a student who was inspired to illustrate many of the things that the witches throw in the cauldron in 4.1, like the eye of newt, toe of frog, and scale of dragon. I got them laminated so I could keep using them in subsequent years. You could do something like that with printed images or collect an assortment of similar toys.
Gauze/white cloth scribbled with red marker: To tie around the head of the kid who reads for the Captain, because his “gashes cry for help.”
Crowns: For Duncan, Macbeth, and Lady Macbeth. Tiny and plastic are totally fine.
Swords: Okay, plastic is not only fine here, it’s necessary. Lots of characters can use them, so find a bunch in the toy section of the dollar store that don’t look like real weapons. Everyone enjoys the collapsible ones.
Armor: The dollar store often has dress-up kits for kids who want to be knights, etc. You might also luck out with yard sales or asking friends and family for any outgrown costume pieces.
Hobby horses: You know, the horse head on a stick thing? They’re another battlefield scene essential. If you can get some for cheap, do it, because they make everyone laugh.
Robe-type garments: Instantly make anyone look regal and/or medieval. I lucked out that the teacher who previously occupied my classroom left lots of stuff, including a Brit lit-appropriate costume piece that looked like a monk’s habit. It worked for nearly every character.
Candle: Great for Banquo and Fleance in 2.1 and Lady Macbeth’s last scene. LED is less breakable and removes the temptation for someone to pull out a lighter.
Dagger on a string: For Macbeth’s dagger scene at the end of 2.1, I tied one end of a string around the handle of a foam dagger (yet again from Dollar Tree) and the other end around a ruler. Then, I’d surprise the class by making the “floating” dagger suddenly appear in front of the student who was reading for Macbeth. It was goofy but they liked it, and they started paying attention again if they had zoned out.
Fake branches: This is for when Birnam Wood moves to Dunsinane Hill in Act 5. Look in the floral section of a craft store. They add some unexpected fun when you hand them around.
So, in conclusion: your high school students are not too old to use props while you read Macbeth. And if they think they’re too cool, holding a silly toy while reading lines from a tragedy will give them the attitude adjustment they need.
For more Macbeth resources, check out my unit bundle on TeachersPayTeachers. If you also teach Hamlet, my big bundle for the two plays is a great time-and-money saver!
