Look like the innocent flower,
But be the serpent under it.

Macbeth 1,5.

Of all Shakespeare's plays, Macbeth has the clearest narrative line. Often
in Shakespeare, the story is the weakest element. He seems much more at home with character development within a scene. Macbeth is the exception. Here, there is no sub-plot, no comic relief, no veering away from the relentless progress of the through line of action as the tragic hero hurtles towards his destruction. Every scene, every speech, every character pushes the story forward, one of the reasons why it is by far the shortest of the plays. The heart of the play is the relationship of a childless couple whose lust for power springs from their physical love for each other. The spine of the drama is formed by 12 monologues that chart the development of Macbeth from an honest soldier to an inhuman blood hound. Around this central axis spin the other characters of the drama: the witches, who tempt Macbeth into murder: Lady Macduff, the innocent victim, raped, mutilated and murdered: the naive soldier Macduff, who thirsts for revenge: the wily young prince, Malcolm, the political brains of the opposition to the dictatorship: and finally, the country itself, where day becomes night as the forces of darkness turn nature upside down, spreading through the land like a cancer.

This production is physical, focussing on language and movement. Actors create nightmares and hallucinations, piles of stinking corpses, apparitions, armies on horseback, a moving forest, a 4-headed, machete-wielding monster, gang rape, murder and arson to the sounds of Shostakovitch and Iggy Pop. The language is violent, physical and muscular, as is the movement, lighting and sound, all of which springs from the metaphysical and supernatural content of the play.