Macbeth, starring Tony winner Ralph Fiennes and Olivier winner Indira Varma, is in rehearsals, and Playbill has cracked open the door for you to see.
Directed by Simon Godwin, the production will begin its four-city, site-specific tour with a run in Liverpool November 24-December 16.
After Liverpool, Macbeth will play engagements in Edinburgh January 13-27, London February 11-March 23, and finally, in Washington, D.C. April 9-May 5.
In each city, performances will be held at custom-built theatre spaces. The D.C. run will take place at 1301 W St. NE, a former soundstage that offers more than 40,000 square feet for an immersive theatre experience.
Fiennes said in a previous statement, “Ever since we collaborated on Man and Superman, I’ve longed to work with Indira Varma and Simon Godwin again. Simon brought us together then, and he’s reuniting us for Macbeth." He continued, "Macbeth is a play that always carries relevance but with wars in Ukraine and Sudan—and murderous authoritarian regimes very present in the world—the play seems particularly current. But, Shakespeare’s examination of the minds of his protagonist—the intimate nature of this—is what gives the play its brilliant and terrifying focus.” The thought was echoed by Varma who also said that the leading couple's "fraught relationship" and the play's exploration of ambition and corruption "still feel chillingly poignant in our modern world."
Rebecca Scroggs, Ben Allen, Richard Pepper, and Ewan Black
Rose Riley and Simon Godwin
Simon Godwin, Alice Wordsworth, and Rike Berg
Simon Godwin
Simon Godwin and Emily Burns
Rose Riley, Ethan Thomas, and Steffan Rhodri
Rike Berg, Alice Wordsworth, Indira Varma, and Keith Fleming
Richard Pepper
Steffan Rhodri and Ralph Fiennes
Ralph Fiennes
Ralph Fiennes and Indira Varma
Simon Godwin and Ralph Fiennes
Indira Varma and Ralph Fiennes
Lola Shalam, Danielle Fiamanya, and Lucy Mangan
Levi Brown, Indira Varma, and Steffan Rhodri
Levi Brown, Ethan Thomas, Ewan Black, and Jake Neads
Alice Wordsworth, Indira Varma, and Keith Fleming
Indira Varma and Ralph Fiennes
Ben Turner
Jonathan Case and Steffan Rhodri
Jake Neads, Steffan Rhodri, and Michael Hodgson
Ben Turner and Rebecca Scroggs
Indira Varma and Ralph Fiennes
Indira Varma and company of Macbeth
Ben Turner and Ralph Fiennes
The full cast includes Ben Allen as Ross, Ewan Black as Malcolm, Levi Brown as Angus, Jonathon Case as Seyton, Danielle Fiamanya as Second Witch, Keith Fleming as King Duncan/Siward, Michael Hodgson as Second Murderer, Lucy Mangan as First Witch, Jake Neads as First Murderer/Donalbain, Richard Pepper as Lennox, Steffan Rhodri as Banquo, Rose Riley as Menteith, Lola Shalam as Third Witch, Rebecca Scroggs as Lady Macduff/Doctor, Ethan Thomas as Fleance, and Ben Turner as Macduff.
The creative team includes set and costume designer Frankie Bradshaw, lighting designer Jai Morjaria, sound designer Christopher Shutt, composer Asaf Zohar, movement director Lucy Cullingford, fight director Kate Waters, voice and dialect coach Jeannette Nelson, and casting director Amy Ball. Emily Burns adapts the original Shakespeare text.
Fiennes has had a long career of performing Shakespeare, including Anthony and Cleopatra at National Theatre, Troilus & Cressida, King Lear, Love's Labour Lost, Much Ado About Nothing, and King John at the Royal Shakespeare Company, and Richard III, Richard II, Coriolanus, and Hamlet at the Almeida. Hamlet transferred to Broadway's Belasco Theatre and earned him a Tony Award. Fiennes also made his feature film directorial debut helming Coriolanus in which he also starred as the titular character. Varma returns to Shakespeare, having previously starred in Titus Andronicus at London's Globe Theatre.
Visit MacbethTheShow.com.
