This lesson explores the validity of a statement that Oscar-nominated actor Ethan Hawke (Boyhood, Training Day) makes in the Macbeth episode of Shakespeare Uncovered: "There's always a certain magic that happens when you start to say the lines [from a Shakespeare play] out loud that you can't anticipate. It feels like a spell." (This lesson is designed to be used as part of a unit on Macbeth. The Introductory Activity could be used as a prereading exercise to introduce performance at the beginning of the unit.)