Rose Theatre, Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh, and Theatre for a New Audience today announce full casting and further creative team for a new UK and US tour of Zinnie Harris’s acclaimed play Macbeth (an undoing). This new adaptation of the Scottish play makes its London premiere at the Rose on 8 March where it runs through 23 March with Press Night on 12 March, then moves to New York (5 April to 4 May) and Edinburgh (14 to 25 May), where it originally premiered at the Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh in February 2023.
The full cast includes Nicole Cooper (Lady Macbeth), reprising her ‘deep, rich, and fascinating performance’ (The Scotsman), Adam Best (Macbeth), Emmanuella Cole (Lady Macduff/Mae) Liz Kettle (Carlin), Thierry Mabonga (Macduff/Doctor), Marc Mackinnon (Duncan/Murderer 2), Taqi Nazeer (Bloody Soldier/Lennox), Star Penders (Missy/Malcolm), James Robinson (Banquo), and Laurie Scott (Ross/Murder 1).
The creative team includes Zinnie Harris (Writer/Director), Tom Piper (Set Design), Alex Berry (Costume Design), Lizzie Powell (Lighting Design), Pippa Murphy (Sound Design), Oguz Kaplangi (Composer), Emily Jane Boyle (Movement Director), Kaitlin Howard (Fight and Intimacy Director), Frances Poet (Dramaturg), Simone Pereira Hind (CDG) and Anna Dawson (Casting Directors), and Hannah Roberts (Producer).
Harris’s retelling of the classic Scottish play puts the iconic Lady Macbeth at the heart of the story. When her husband returns victorious from the battlefield with a prophecy that he is to become King of Scotland, Lady Macbeth will stop at nothing to make their darkest ambition a reality. By putting her front and centre, it begs the question – have we really heard the whole story?
“I am often drawn to female characters that have been written by men and reinterpreting them with a more modern, or even a more sympathetic sensibility,” said Zinnie Harris, who does double duty as the production’s writer and director. “I’ve known for a while that I wanted to delve deeper into Lady Macbeth, because I knew there was a missing part of her story. What happens if Lady Macbeth is put in focus, or even swaps places with Macbeth, ultimately assuming and struggling with her own unchecked ambition?”
Christopher Haydon, Artistic Director at the Rose, said: “When I saw Zinnie’s production in Edinburgh last winter, I was bowled over by her entertaining and ferocious new version of a story that looms large in our collective consciousness. I knew we had to bring it to the Rose, offering London audiences an opportunity to see Zinnie tilt this classic story on its axis, bringing something new to conversations about power and leadership in today’s world.”
Following a critically acclaimed premiere at The Lyceum Edinburgh in February 2023, Zinnie Harris’ Macbeth (an undoing) comes to the Rose ahead of travelling to Theatre for a New Audience, New York, and returning to the Lyceum in an international collaboration between the three theatres.
