Just Macbeth!
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Just Macbeth is a different version of William Shakespere's play Macbeth. It was written by Australian children’s author Andy Griffiths and produced by Bell Shakespeare.
Storyline
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Act One
It starts in a classroom where the students are doing their version of "The Witches Scene" from Macbeth. Mrs Livingstone then tells Andy, Lisa and Danny that they must do their scene. It then cuts to Andy’s home where they are practicing for their version of the scene. They are mixing up the potion as they do so. For most of the ingredients they use lollies instead of the actual ingredients, but when it comes to tongue of a dog they decide to use Sooty's (Andy’s dogs) tongue. Danny thinks Andy shouldn't cut Sootys tongue off and that Andy just does that sort of stuff to impress Lisa while Lisa thinks Andy should because then they will get better marks and he will become class captain. In the end they get some saliva of his tongue instead. All three of them then drink the potion. Suddenly they get sent back in time and they end up as characters in Macbeth. Andy is Macbeth, Lisa is Lady MacBeth and Danny is Banquo. Andy and Danny find themselves in the middle of a battle and the realise that Lisa is missing. They fight of the enemy and win the battle. They then go walking across a field when they find the three witches They say that Macbeth is going to be Thane of Cawdor and Banquos children will be king before running away when their not looking, convincing Andy and Danny that they disappeared. Danny is upset that his children will become king and not him and Andy is jealous of Danny. Andy and Danny then realise that they are in Macbeth. Lennox then comes in and says that Banquo will become king after Duncan and that Macbeth will be the Thane of Cawdor and that King Duncan would be arriving at Macbeth’s castle to celebrate winning the war and he would be staying the night there. Macbeth goes back to his castle where he finds that Lisa is Lady Macbeth. After telling her what happens, Lady Macbeth tells Andy that he should kill the king so he can become king while she prepares dinner (marshmallows, which Andy eats when she is doing a soliloquy). King Duncan and Lennox then arrive at there castle and celebrate their victory by karaoke. Andy and Lisa continue arguing whether or not to kill the king. In the end they decide to do so. When Andy goes out to kill King Duncan he meets Danny (who is now Banquo) and his son Fleance. Andy accidentally hints that he is going to kill the king. Then seen through the silhouette is King Duncan going to bed before Andy comes in holding a dagger and stands above his bed.
Act Two
Macbeth returns to his castle with his hands covered in blood. Lady Macbeth says he should wipe the blood on his servants but when he is too shocked to do so, she does it herself and comes back with blood on her hands. Meanwhile MacDuff (who is a garden gnome) and Lennox are shocked to find out that the king has been killed. Macbeth organises a royal banquet. However, Macbeth becomes increasingly suspicious that Banquo knows that he killed the king and uneasy because of the witch’s prophecy that Banqios children will become king. So he orders two assassins to kill Banquo and Fleance when they are out horse ridding. They succeed in killing Banquo but Fleance escapes. The assassins tell Macbeth that Banquo is dead. At the banquet, Banquo's ghost haunts Macbeth, who runs away from the ghost in fear. The others who can't see the ghost think Macbeth is going mad and Lisa says he's having nightmares after watching too much Happy Tree Friends. Macbeth then goes to visit the witches again. The witches summon some spirits (Lisa Simpson and Yoda) who tell him that no man born of a woman can kill him. Now convinced that he completely indestructible (because everybody is born from a woman, therefore he thinks that no one can kill him) and is convinced he will never be overthrown as MacDuff was exiled to England he believes he is safe orders many people to be killed by being thrown into the Giant Mashing And Pulverising Machine including kittens, puppies and ponies. In the next scene a doctor and a nurse tell him that Lady Macbeth is becoming insane and sleepwalks and said a word that is so disgusting that anyone who hears it immediately vomits and their head explodes. She then comes in sleepwalking and thinks that Macbeth has just killed King Duncan. She washing the imaginary blood off herself and talks of the terrible things she and her husband did. Macbeth becomes increasingly guilty of what he has done. Danny then comes down as an angel and he tells Andy that heaven is great. Afterwards a guard tells Macbeth that Lady Macbeth is that MacDuff is back from England with an army of gnomes. Convinced that no one can kill him, he goes out and fights the gnomes. He asks "Where you born of a woman?" to every gnome he fight to which they reply "Yes". All of the gnomes are either killed or chicken out. When he is convinced that nobody can defeat him. MacDuff (who is now played by an actor and not a garden gnome) bursts in through the silhouette screen and fights Macbeth. It is reviled that MacDuff was not born of a woman as "from his mother's womb he was untimely ripped". When Macbeth says he doesn't know what this means Macduff pulls out a diagram of Caesarean section (cutting a baby out from the womb). MacDuff then cuts Macbeths head off. It then goes back to the classroom where it is then reviled that the entire play was Andy, Danny and Lisa’s version of Macbeth. Mrs Livingstone says it was excellent, but it went on longer than see expected and she could have sworn there where more than three people acting it out. Mrs Livingstone gave their version a B+ (she didn't understand the gnome stuff). She tells them that they would go well at being class captain, but Andy says he'd prefer being the class clown.
Cultural References
- The play is an adoption of the popular play Macbeth by William Shakespeare.
- All six Just! books (Just Tricking, Just Annoying, Just Stupid, Just Crazy, Just Disgusting and Just Shocking) are mentioned or quoted.
- Some of Shakespeare’s other plays (particularly Hamlet) are mentioned.
- Macbeth being cursed is brought up at the start of the play and later on when Danny visits Andy as an Angel.
- Whiz Fizz is mentioned several times.
- Danny told Andy he learned to fight from watching Kill Bill.
- When Andy and Danny are running across a field after the battle a McDonalds sign is seen in the back ground.
- When Lisa said "Thank God you're here" Andy says "Hey it's just like that show!"
- King Duncan was singing Freak like Me in a karaoke match.
- After King Duncan is murdered, the Psycho "Shower Scene" music and scream is heard.
- Lisa said that Andy watches Happy Tree Friends.
- The spirits that tell Macbeth to beware of MacDuff and that that no man born of a woman can kill him are Lisa Simpson and Yoda.