- Ask students if they remember the name of Banquo’s son? Play Fleance Dramatis Personae Video as a reminder.
- Ask students what the witches told Banquo (that his descendants would become kings).
- Explain that Macbeth decides to kill Banquo and Fleance to remove the threat of the witches’ prophecy coming true.
- Organise students into groups to include: Banquo, Fleance and two or three murderers.
- Ask each group to create three freeze frames of the story of Banquo’s murder following the descriptions given. Display the Freeze Frames slide.
Banquo and Fleance walk back to the castle talking about the weather. The murderers hide ready to jump out.
The murderers kill Banquo. Fleance runs away.
Banquo is dead. The murderers look around for Fleance.
- Watch each group’s performance of their three freeze frames.
- Next, ask students to add lines to their freeze frames. Display the Murderers slide or give out copies of the lines from the pdf resource list.
Check for understanding:
Murderer: ‘Tis he (It’s him, he’s coming)
Murderer: Stand to it (Get ready)
Banquo: It will be rain tonight (It’s going to rain tonight)
Banquo: Fly, good Fleance, fly, fly, fly! (Run away Fleance, run, run, run)
Murderer: The son is fled. (The son has run away)
Murderer: Well, let’s away. (Well, let’s go)
- Encourage students to bring their freeze frames to life and to sign and/or speak the lines to create a performance of the whole scene.
- Share the performances and encourage students to comment on what worked well in each other’s performances