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Macbeth, one of Shakespeare's darkest and most powerful plays, has come to us in a number of guises over the decades, capturing, as it does, the extreme mental and political effects produced when evil is employed as a route to power.
It is also one of those works in which the Bard switches mood and direction in an instant and still takes us with him. It is a murderous ride because initially Macbeth is the brave general returning in triumph from dispatching his king's enemies, a good man loaded with honours and strong friends. But, on the way home, he bumps into three witches who feed him mischievous prophecies, not least the idea that he will one day himself be king. The cleverness of their predictions sparks his ambition and, aided by his equally zealous and assertive wife, he sets about seizing the throne, leading on to the most extraordinary spate of brutish killing.
He kills Duncan, his king - a guest in his home - and then nobody is safe, his friends or their families. When he goes back to the witches for reassurance about he is doing and what the future holds, he is heartened by what they tell him. But their cunning forecast, though accurate, hides the truth.
A new production next week puts the tale in a rather different context. The Bury Theatre Royal has joined forces...
