Macbeth

What is it about Macbeth that holds such a fascination for us? Shakespeare’s best-known villain, a power-hungry megalomaniac who, egged on by a greedy and ambitious wife, destroyed his country for personal aggrandisement (actually, that sounds a bit familiar), has a habit of turning up on the cultural agenda in one form or another. Last year Opera Ireland gave us Verdi’s version; the year before Siren Productions spiced things up with Lady M as a seductive older woman and George Higgs created his Bed of Macbeth installation; and before that again the 2007 Dublin Theatre Festival brought us a deconstructed Radio Macbeth. Macbeth hasn’t been a stranger on the Abbey stage either (Cyril Cusack played Malcolm in the 1934 production) although it’s over 14 years since its most recent outing. Now it’s back in a muscular new production, previewing from tomorrow (30 March) and opening on Wed 7 April. Directed by Jimmy Fay, it takes on the desperate hues of Cromwellean Ireland as it lays bare the darkest side of human nature. Featuring the powerful duo of Aidan Kelly and Eileen Walsh in the leading roles, the large cast also includes Andrea Irvine, John Kavanagh, Michael McElhatton, Rory Nolan and Karl Shiels. www.abbeytheatre.ie