With a touch of modern flair, the eighth-grade English classes presented their updated performance of the renowned Shakespearean tragedy “Macbeth” on May 9th. Students captured the audience with their rendition of the timeless act of drama, ambition, and bloodshed. Freshmen who performed the same play last year filled the seats as well. 

Preparation took two weeks, which included role assignments, script and prop preparation, and line memorization. Their previous performance experiences with “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” and “Gloria, una Periodista sin Memoria” helped them navigate through the process.

“Overall, I really enjoyed the play. The students did a great job capturing Macbeth through the costumes, props, and they practiced hard with their scripts. I also thought they did a good job portraying the tragedy that ambition can lead to,” said Ms. Nagy, the middle school English teacher. 

Technical difficulties interfered with the flow of the acts – the most apparent issue: the timing of the audio. “[As a solution,] Ms. Loutsch thought we could make sure the audio is MP3 uploads, [because] part of the issue with YouTube, we found, is the ads. [Having] no immediate control over volume compared to MP3 uploads to the slides [was also an issue],” added Ms. Nagy.

Nonetheless, the ultimate scene of the fierce battle between Macduff and Macbeth energized the crowd and the actors themselves. Chirayu Joshi, who played Macduff, said, “We barely had any preparation, and we improvised most of our parts. Half of what we scripted, we didn’t even do. But still, we managed to pull it off.”

The laughter and awe of students and parents filled the presentation hall. Unfortunately, the play overran the schedule due to the large number of performers, and students with classes had to miss out on the last act. 

“It was good seeing everyone do acts that we all did last year. We were amazed by everyone’s performance, and seeing groups that performed my scenes was interesting. It was also fun to see everything play out. I was glad to see the performance,” said freshman Bryan Lee.

“The teachers were more involved in narrating and explaining the play. So it seemed like it was easier for the students to show the story. The teachers helped the audience understand the flow of the story,” said Aiden Huh, another freshman.

Although students faced stumbles along the way, they successfully carried out their responsibilities. “I felt that students went above and beyond, not only capturing their own scenes but also collaborating in order to ensure the success of the play as a whole. I think all of the 8th graders should be so proud of their portrayal of “Macbeth,” and I hope they found the experience to be a meaningful memory,” said Ms. Nagy.

The efforts of the eighth graders shine on the school’s English department on every occasion. With the approach of summer break, students pulled off their last acts and shared final memories with friends and families.