The Stratford Zoo Midnight Revue Presents Macbeth
By Zack Giallongo and Ian Lendler
4/5
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Currently unavailable
Currently unavailable
About this ebook
The Stratford Zoo looks like a normal zoo... until the gates shut at night. That's when the animals come out of their cages to stage elaborate performances of Shakespeare's greatest works. They might not be the most accomplished thespians, but they've got what counts: heart. Also fangs, feathers, scales, and tails, in The Stratford Zoo Midnight Revue Presents Macbeth.
Ian Lendler's hilarious tale of after-hours animal stagecraft is perfectly paired with the adorable, accessible artwork of Zack Giallongo (Broxo, Ewoks). And with Romeo and Juliet coming in book two, this is a promising new series of graphic novels for young readers.
Zack Giallongo
Zack was born and raised in Massachusetts, although one half of his family lives in Indiana. Between New England and the Midwest, he's a little bit country, a little bit rock and roll. He currently lives with two cats and enjoys playing the banjo. He also likes cheese, bowling, and writing in the third person.
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Reviews for The Stratford Zoo Midnight Revue Presents Macbeth
35 ratings7 reviews
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5While this graphic novel will probably not send elementary and middle school students scrambling to the original source, at least they'll be developing a familiarity with Shakespeare and hopefully, an appreciation of his work. This comedic interpretation of MacBeth makes an appealing case, and the cast of zoo thespians are terrific. MacBeth is a lion, Lady MacBeth is a leopard (oh, those spots!), and MacDuff is a sleuthing stork, complete with trench coat and fedora. The art is bright and expressive and the panels are easy to navigate, with little asides from audience members and more than one instance where a skillfully placed animal obscures the presumed violence onstage. Readers familiar with the play will undoubtedly get the biggest kick out of this parody, but young graphic novel fans will find much to like here, too. Same AR level as popular graphic novel Amulet, 2.9, but the point is only 0.5. -JF
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5If you have ever wondered what the zoo animals do at night, well they put on shows. They start off with Macbeth, the famous play by Willy Shakespeare. The play is presented and we the readers get to see not just the play, but the audience thoughts and participation. We find out why things like intermissions happen. This was the simplest but craziest retelling of Macbeth ever put to paper. I loved every minute of it. Between the three witches trying to find the perfect witch laugh, and the queen dealing with her “spots”, kids will get a nice basis for the story, and have a better time than they would with a Great Illustrated Classic.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Stratford Zoo Midnight Revue Presents Macbeth by Ian Lendler is a graphic novel adaptation / retelling of the Scottish play by Shakespeare. Now when I see an animal themed "presentation" of something famous like this, I'm skeptical. So often, these things are dumbed down, simplified, and so far removed from the original that there's no point in keeping any reference to the title except perhaps to make it sound vaguely educational. Not so with the Stratford Zoo series (their take on Romeo and Juliet comes out in this year). Though the animals are doing their own thing, the characters are still recognizable. The humor is on point plot-wise and outlandish at the same time (as a good parody should be).But what makes this book really something special, something to show to everyone (as I have been doing!), is the acting by the animals. Or, put more succinctly, the artwork by Zack Giallongo, is hilarious. It's like reading the storyboard to an old Warner Bros' short (think Tex Avery, Chuck Jones, or Friz Freeling).
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Short, funny graphic retelling of Macbeth that will amuse those completely unfamiliar with the source material and amuse much, much more those who know it well.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Zoo has closed for the evening, and the visitors head home to visions of animals in their dreams, the animals are gathering, for the Play is the thing. The Midnight revue has gathered to perform a grand production of Macbeth, for all to see. Macbeth the regal lion, brave warrior and hero of the realm is well loved by all. But his wife, Lady Macbeth dost wish for more and encourages him to eat the king, so that he may rule! Down this path madness does lie, but he does as she wishes for he loves her so. As more animals disappear to cover his crime and as Queen Macbeth descends into madness, new heroes arise and the tragic tale comes to an end. One of the things that I struggled the most with in school was reading plays. Any play, but Shakespearean plays were always the worst. I had trouble figuring out which character was speaking, how scenes fit together, and words always got jumbled in my head. It was only when I discovered graphic novel adaptations of the plays did things really start to click for me, and after reading this adaptation I really wish I had, had this version to read! It captures the classic story well, but adds some additional humor and asides to the audiences that make the play even more fun. Ian has done a great job of adapting Macbeth so its enjoyable for all ages and making the characters into animals. Macduff is a noir detective stork. Lady Macduff is a cheetah, who can’t quite get the spots out. The witches try to help their colleague perfect her evil cackle (she tries everything else first...including a nice Santa laugh.) While Ian does tone down some of the darker aspects of the play, given that the book is for younger readers, he captures its essence and message perfectly. I’ve been a huge fan of Zach Giallongo’s art since his previous First Second book, Broxo, and his illustrations in this book made me fall even more in love with his art. While Ian crafts the perfect words for his characters, Zach brings them to life, capturing their expressions and movements perfectly. Macbeth, a regal looking lion, moves with ease, but as he eats more and more animals, he begins to waddle and his belly extends and Zach captures it with ease. My favorite character though has to be Macduff the stork. Depicted in a trench coat and a fedora (I really wonder whose idea that was?) captures the essence of Macduff as a detective so well that I’m going to have a hard time imagining Macduff as anything else from now on. Zach should also be commended, along with Ian, for making the more violent acts of the play into something a bit more cartoony with squirting ketchup substituting for blood and well placed animals blocking the view when needed.If you’re looking for a literary analysis or think that Shakespeare has no humor, please look elsewhere. On the other hand if you’re looking for something fun to introduce Shakespeare to younger readers, 5th grade and up, forge ahead! Older readers will enjoy the humor and new look at Macbeth as well. In fact, I think this book would work perfectly in a high school setting, helping students understand that Shakespeare does have humor to it, and that it can be fun and enjoyable to read. I give the book four out of five stars.PS: I hear that a second volume is in the works, this time based upon Romeo and Juliet. I can’t wait!Review copy provided by Gina at First Second
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This is a really cute, short graphic novel telling of MacBeth. The art is colorful and vivid, and they do a good job of condensing the plot. It is rather sanitized--for example, it turns out at the end that no one really died in the play--but it feels quite appropriate considering it's a performance staged by zoo animals.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This was a lot of fun, especially for someone who already knows the premise of Macbeth. Macbeth is one of my absolute favourite Shakespeare so I was looking forward to this. I'm not sure this could be said to be a child's first introduction to Shakespeare in a meaningful way but they'll love it for the pure humour of it. The art is fantastic, as I enjoyed Giallongo's debut work in "Broxo". Bold and vibrant with a colour palette of mostly greens and blues to match the atmosphere of the tragedy of Macbeth. However, this version of the play is pure pleasure with zoo animals as the characters and a hungry lion eating his victims instead of any murders. It was quite fun to see how imaginative Lendler could be with incorporating real elements of the Shakespeare into this parody. He even inserts a couple of direct quotes. Adults will have a good giggle at the pastiche while children will belly-laugh at the shear farce. The last page tells us the next coming attraction will be "Romeo & Juliet". Now that is one of my most hated Shakespeare but I have to say I'm quite looking forward to what Lendler will do with it!