Shakespeare’s Macbeth Comes to Life at Lorain High School Through Great Lakes Theater Residency
LORAIN, Ohio — The age-old themes of Shakespeare's "Macbeth" — good versus evil, ambition's dangers, and loyalty versus guilt — jumped off the page for Lorain High School students Oct. 7-10 as the Great Lakes Theater Residency Program gave them an up-close experience with the play's characters and ideas.
This interactive theater workshop for 10th-grade English Language Arts students was an initiative born out of a summer professional development workshop where Lorain High's English teachers brainstormed ways to bring learning to life.
English teacher Kelly Brion said students had prepped for the four-day workshop by reading sections of "Macbeth" alongside the novel "Long Way Down," a story of revenge and street justice, which mirrors some of the play's core themes. To further engage students, they watched Denzel Washington's 2021 portrayal of the titular character in "The Tragedy of Macbeth."
"The students have been asking deep, insightful questions," Brion said. "They're making real-life connections, asking questions like how to cope with loss, how to handle anger, and even if they could seek revenge like in 'Macbeth' and 'Long Way Down.'"
English teacher Kaila Phan shared similar excitement.
"This has been my best week of teaching. Watching students come out of their shells and connect these themes to their lives has been incredible," she said.
English teachers saw an opportunity to introduce students to high-level concepts in a tangible way when they suggested bringing professional actors into the classroom. With help from fellow English teacher Niki Myers, whom Brion affectionately called the "MacGyver of teaching," the team quickly turned the idea into reality.
Myers said she fondly remembers Great Lakes Theater coming to her classroom at the former Lorain High School.
"We had them come for 'Romeo and Juliet,' 'Julius Caesar' and 'Macbeth' over the years," she said. "It was always one of my very favorite weeks of school. When I saw that 'Macbeth' was part of the 10th-grade curriculum, I suggested we reach out to Great Lakes to see if they still presented the play to schools."
The result was four days of students donning costumes, grabbing prop swords, and speaking the dramatic writing style of the 17th-century classic.
"The performers work amazingly well with the students," Myers said. "They are so patient. You can see their passion as they perform the roles and explain the story to the students. They really make Shakespeare come alive."
Beyond the classroom, this partnership reflects Lorain Schools' commitment to Universal Design for Learning (UDL), a teaching framework that aims to meet the diverse needs of all students. C3 Teams, formed to encourage teacher collaboration, are designed to ensure every student has access to high-quality, hands-on instruction. Myers, Brion, and Phan are on a C3 team and often design lesson plans together.
"It is my hope that this is an experience our students will never forget — just like me," Myers said. "I hope that they learn that Shakespeare's plays are accessible to everyone and that the themes he wrote about can stand the test of time."