At roughly 12:00 on Wednesday, the 19^th of September, all English 11 and Literature 12 students departed school and traveled to Bard on the Beach summer festival. Students and faculty alike witnessed, alongside several other Vancouver based English groups, Bard on the Beach Theatre Company’s production of Shakespeare’s Macbeth.

With the theatre packed and the audience fully prepared having purchased kettle corn and pop, the show began. The performances were all so extravagant. Actors emerged from darkened entrances swords swinging, grunts bellowing from the lungs of those portraying men at war while smoke rose and fell eerily upon the stage. Wondrous portrayals of Macbeth and his lady kept the audience incessantly engaged. “Macbeths dagger monologue was especially captivating,” remarked one Literature 12 student. The audience felt truly immersed in the compelling world of this Shakespearean tragedy.

The play lasted roughly two and a half hours. Although most would agree they could not have survived the duration of the show had there not been an intermission, all returned satisfied and feeling slightly more in touch with Shakespeare’s literature. One grade 11 student summarized the occasion quite nicely. “Sure it was a bit long, but overall, a really nice way to tie up all the loose ends left over from previous years of studying the play.”