CLASSROOM SPOTLIGHT: Southside Elementary (VIDEO)

.As they rehearse their lines for "Macbeth," fourth-graders at Southside Elementary talk Shakespeare with The Sarasota Observer.

Adrianno DiLorenzo, Macbeth
Who is Macbeth?
He’s a good noble man, a good warrior and nobody can defeat him. When he gets word from the witches that he will become the next king, he starts to have murderous thoughts. He doesn’t want to kill King Duncan, but he becomes obsessed.

Do you like Shakespeare’s plays?
His plays show emotion, happiness and lots of different types of tragedy. He’s just a really good writer — “Macbeth” is the best tragedy he wrote.

Do you like playing Macbeth?
I didn’t like that he becomes obsessed with killing, but I really like being Macbeth because he’s really cool. He is “the play.” He shows emotion and what he feels.

Alexa Mollod, Lady Macbeth
What is your character’s role in “Macbeth?”
I play Lady Macbeth and bribe Macbeth into killing King Duncan so he can become king, but we both go really crazy. We’re seeing blood on our hands and Macbeth is seeing ghosts and daggers. I hatch the plan for him. I turn really evil.

What do you like about this play?
It’s fun. You get to be a different character and my character is from Scotland. I get to be evil and go crazy.

Did you learn anything from this experience?
I learned that doing bad things to other people doesn’t do anything. It isn’t a recipe for happiness.

Wyatt Getzen, Malcom
What is your character’s role in “Macbeth?”
Malcom is the king’s son. At the end of the play, he becomes the king of Scotland. He’s a very good character. When he finds out his father has been murdered he flees to England. At the end, his brother convinces him to come home and reclaim their father’s throne.

You get to wear a kilt. What do you think about that?
It’s OK. I didn’t really enjoy it at first, but all the boys got to wear, kilts and I have my mom to thank for that. She also got us these man purses to wear around our waists called “sporrans.”

Is there a moral to this play?
The moral is pretty tricky. I think it’s not to be greedy or vicious. I learned a lot about Shakespeare.

Emma Venafro, Witch (chaos)
What is your character’s role in “Macbeth?”
I’m a witch — an evil witch. All of the witches represent three things; chaos, conflict and darkness. I play “Chaos.” We get to do a dance around a cauldron and say all of these different ingredients. It’s really fun!

What do you like about this play?
I have the very first line. We get to prophesize and basically tell the whole play. We tell Macbeth what’s going to happen to him. It’s a really fun play. I like the “curse” because almost every rehearsal something happens and a sword breaks. It’s really cool.

What do you know about Shakespeare?
I know Shakespeare writes tragedies, histories and comedies.

How do you like your witch costume?
Our moms made our costumes — they are supposed to look old and haggish. We have pouches to hold the herbs and we are the only people who get to be barefoot.

Ashlynn Rutherford, Witch (darkness)
Are you a good witch or a bad witch?
We’re supposed to be mysterious witches! We tell Macbeth what’s going to happen. During the scenes that he’s not on stage, we put stuff into a cauldron and brew — we frolic around and have a dance.

Was being cast as a witch your number one choice?
I was stuck between Lady Macbeth and a witch. I love big parts because I love memorizing, but I also love dancing. I really wanted to do a dance.

What’s your favorite part about this play?
Our dance, because the music actually says the lines from the play. It’s fun to go around the cauldron with all of my friends. I like being barefoot — we are the only ones who get to dirty up our feet.

Contact Loren Mayo at [email protected].
 

Emma Venafro and Ashlynn Rutherford dance around the cauldron.

Adrianno DiLorenzo and Alexa Mollod rehearse a scene from "Macbeth."