Macbeth still has a message for us

Following their open-air sell-out productions of ‘Hamlet’ last year and ‘Comedy of Errors’ in the summer, Ad Lib Theatre are bringing Shakespeare into Bembridge Village Hall with perhaps the Bard’s most famous tragedy, ‘Macbeth’. Or, if you’re in a theatre, ‘The Scottish Play’.

With shows at 7.30pm next Friday and Saturday (Nov 24 and 25) and a 2.30pm matinee on Sunday, this is a tale just suited to those murky, late-in-the-year days, tracing the path of a once noble soldier’s ambition, from his reward for loyalty and courage to kingship and tragic downfall.

The play may be over 400 years old but it still has plenty to say about life in the modern world, dealing as it does with choices and problems central to life, whenever it is lived. The world of witches’ predictions, superstition and killing a king to gain his throne may seem a long way from our society, but the emotions are the same – we’ve all felt love, shame, guilt, loyalty, fear, anger … and can relate to the way the characters deal with these feelings: in doing so, as with all good drama, we learn something about ourselves and our relationships too.

This production, with a contemporary setting, is faithful to the original text yet with a modern twist: the witches, whom Macbeth unwisely trusted, are presented as representatives of sources of information we may or may not be wise to trust today. Although we may find the idea of witches telling us what to think and do seem rather quaint, who has not believed an advert that promises a product is too good to be true? Who has not watched a party political broadcast or listened to a politician or businessman justifying their actions or telling us how the world is, wanting us to believe their words? Should we?

Intrigued? Whether you know the play well, dimly remember it from school or have never seen it performed, go along. Ad Lib aims to show that, even after 450 years, Shakespeare still has something to say about our lives!

Tickets are available via iow.life/macbethtickets or call 07747 738338.