Macbeth

Play

Writers: William Shakespeare

Overview

Show Information

Category
Play
Number of Acts
5
First Produced
1606
Genres
Drama, Historical/Biographical
Settings
Multiple Settings
Time & Place
scotland, medieval britain
Cast Size
large
Orchestra Size
None
Dancing
None
Licensor
None/royalty-free
Ideal for
College/University, Large Cast, Mature Audiences, High School, Mostly Male Cast, Professional Theatre, Regional Theatre, Star Vehicle Male, Star Vehicle Female
Casting Notes
Mostly male cast
Includes adult, mature adult, early teen, late teen, young adult characters

Synopsis

Heroic Macbeth has just won two victorious battles for Scotland, when he encounters three weird sisters who tell him this is only the beginning of his path to glory. They foresee that Macbeth will become the Thane of Cawdor, and then, ultimately, the King of all Scotland. At first, the honest and upright Macbeth ignores the predictions, but when he is bestowed with the first of those two titles, he starts to yearn for the second. Drunk on his own success, Macbeth feels invincible, and--with the encouragement of his ambitious wife--he takes the realization of his predicted fate into his own hands. After murdering his friend and sovereign, King Duncan, Macbeth disappears further down the path toward destruction and despair, even as he is tortured by questions of conscience. He has always been a masterful warrior, but applying the rules of war to life at home becomes much more complex. Shakespeare’s Macbeth reveals to us the danger of ambition, crafting a terrifying parable in which great people are destroyed by the power of their own success.

Lead Characters


Macbeth guide sections