‘Macbeth’ – Shakespeare’s classic tragedy opens at The Watermill Theatre

A new fast-paced seventy-five-minute production of Macbeth will open at The Watermill Theatre on October 31 and run until November 4 before touring local schools and village halls. Adapted and directed by The Watermill’s Associate Director Abigail Pickard Price, the production features an electrifying rock score performed by an ensemble cast of three actor-musicians.

This talented trio are Liam Bull (The Flood, Queens Theatre Hornchurch) as ‘Banquo,’ Thuliswa Magwaza (Imaginary Natural Beings, Camden Fringe Festival & Much Ado About Nothing, Duke of York Theatre, NYT REP Company) as ‘Lady Macbeth’ and Jimmy Chambers (The Great Gatsby, Theatre Clwyd & Alice in Wonderland, Vic Theatre) as ‘Macbeth’.

Following the production’s run in The Watermill, Macbeth will visit eight local schools over two weeks as well as Stanton Harcourt Village Hall (10 November), Bradfield Village Hall (11 November), Shrivenham Memorial Hall (17 November) and Brill Memorial Hall (18 November).

Abigail Pickard Price said, “The Watermill’s history of staging innovative productions of Shakespeare’s texts is extraordinary. It has been amazing to watch this work grow since The Watermill Ensemble was established in 2017, and something particularly wonderful has been seeing many audiences invited into Shakespeare for the first time using their unique style.

I hope our production of Macbeth will continue this stream of innovative adaptations for audiences young and old, appealing to those very familiar with the text and those who are hearing these words for the first time. 

Entwining familiar contemporary folk and rock music with Shakespeare’s text, our production brings Macbeth into the modern world, a world where peace is but a fleeting feeling but emptiness all too known. This world will travel from The Watermill to local schools and village halls, inviting audiences to sit close and, as the guitars ring out, transport themselves to Scotland.”