Macbeth Off the Page: Bringing Performance Techniques to Your Lessons

This session is designed for Secondary English Teachers, Drama Educators, and Literacy Leads (KS3-KS4) who want to move beyond the desk and explore Macbeth as a living piece of theatre. Whether you are looking to refresh your teaching toolkit or help students who find Shakespeare’s language a barrier, this webinar provides the bridge between the written word and the stage.

Join RABBLE Theatre for an energetic, practical session that tackles the "Shakespeare problem" head-on. We will share the same rehearsal-room techniques used by our professional actors to decode the "blood, betrayal, and battle" of the play. You will leave with a suite of off-the-shelf activities that require no prior drama experience but promise to boost classroom engagement, simplify complex themes, and build student confidence in handling the curriculum.

By the end of this webinar, you will be able to:

• Implement actor-led pedagogy: Apply 3 practical rehearsal-room techniques to help students unlock the text through movement and active exploration.
• Simplify complex themes: Use performance-based strategies to make abstract concepts (like the supernatural, guilt, and ambition) tangible and easy for students to articulate.
• Increase language accessibility: Help students overcome "Old English" anxiety by using vocal and physical exercises to demystify Shakespearean verse.
• Enhance exam confidence: Link active learning directly to assessment objectives, helping students provide more insightful, "lived" analysis in their written work.
• Direct with confidence: Feel empowered to lead a classroom of students through key scenes without the need for a stage or a specialised drama background.

After the webinar, you'll receive the recording of the webinar; a list of suggested further reading; and a series of reflection questions/writing prompts to support you in linking the content of the webinar back in to your practice.

Speaker:

Toby Davies, Founder & Artistic Director

Toby is a Bristol Old Vic trained actor and St Andrews English Literature graduate, bringing an academic and professional perspective to Shakespeare. Since co-founding RABBLE Theatre in 2012, he has been driven by a mission to create world-class theatre that fosters community pride and equal opportunity. With performance credits ranging from the West End to the Tobacco Factory, Toby specializes in making the arts accessible to all. His work is rooted in education, currently serving on the Education Sub-Committee of the Worshipful Company of Grocers and having spent over a decade campaigning for local cultural spaces. Toby is passionate about giving teachers the tools to incite a reaction in their classrooms, using the same visceral, actor-led techniques that have earned RABBLE national recognition including Guardian Top 20 and Telegraph Top 5 UK Shows. Away from the rehearsal room, he is a keen runner and advocate for the transformative power of the outdoors.