Over the last academic term, Oxford Playhouse has been delighting schoolchildren across the county with Cardboard Adventure’s immersive, musical and educational MakeBeth.

As part of the Oxford Playhouse Plays Out Tour, the project was delivered completely free to nine state primary schools across Oxfordshire.

More than 1,000 pupils watched the production, which introduced William Shakespeare’s Macbeth in a creative and accessible way while supporting literacy learning for Years 3 to 6.

Developed specifically for Key Stage 2 pupils, MakeBeth toured across the whole county over three weeks. Oxford Playhouse presented the production to multiple classes at Bayards Hill School, The Batt CE Primary School, Botley School, Orchard Meadow Primary School, St John Fisher Catholic Primary School, St Mary’s Church of England (Aided) Primary School, Chipping Norton, St Michael’s CE Primary School, Thameside Primary School, and Tyndale Community School.

Makebeth transforms Shakespeare’s darkest tragedy into a joyful, laugh-out-loud cardBARD adventure, proving that Macbeth can be playful, accessible and engaging for today’s young audiences.

Throughout the performance, pupils become involved in the story themselves, guided by three professional actors. They are encouraged to make ingredients for the witches’ spell and become the moving trees of Birnam Wood, giving them creative ownership over Shakespeare’s text. The performance offers a version of Macbeth that is tangible and that schoolchildren can play with in a relaxed way outside of the classroom.

MakeBeth is written by former Shakespeare’s Globe writer-in-residence Hannah Khalil, directed by Ian Nicholson and designed by Sam Wilde.

The set design and props were all crafted from recycled cardboard, reflecting the theatre industry’s commitment to reducing its environmental impact. Most of the materials used by pupils were sourced from backstage at Oxford Playhouse and then reused throughout the tour.

Created by Cardboard Adventures and Shakespeare’s Globe in partnership with Chichester Festival Theatre and Leeds Playhouse, the Oxfordshire tour was presented as part of Oxford Playhouse Plays Out, an essential cornerstone of the theatre’s Creative Education programme.

Major funding was provided by St John’s College Oxford, The Lucy Group and the MacFarlane Family Foundation, with additional funding from The Doris Field Charitable Trust, The Hugh Fraser Foundation, the MacTaggart Third Fund, The Pye Charitable Settlement and Richard Gladstone.