Macbeth is one of Shakespeare's most performed plays. The play explores the corrupting power of ambition and its terrifying consequences, both politically and personally. At the same time, it is an intense and entertaining tale – a thriller, war story, love story, and a supernatural nightmare. The witches hover over the action as both demonic forces and restorative guardians of the natural order that Macbeth and his murderous wife attempt to destroy. The evil they unleash ultimately backfires on them, and the audience watches as boundless ambition collapses into doubt and madness.
TNT's production, directed by Paul Stebbings, was the company's first Shakespeare production and has since 2001 been revived and toured in over forty countries across four continents. The performance has thrilled audiences from London to Beijing and from Australia to Norway. This is an intense and powerful version, driven by the presence of the witches and an atmospheric musical soundscape by Paul Flush. Forests and castles blend together on stage, and the witches are almost constantly present, neither man nor woman, but relentless like Greek Furies. The production highlights the poetic power of Shakespeare and demonstrates how the play's timeless themes of power, morality, and evil still resonate strongly with our own time.
