Macbeth - School Performance

Scotland, 11th century. Lightning and thunder. In a forest, three witches prophesy to the heroic general Macbeth that he will one day be king. To give fate a helping hand, Macbeth - spurred on by his equally ambitious and ruthless wife - decides to murder the reigning king. Before he can take the throne he craves, however, more murders and slander are required. By the time he finally reaches his goal, he is a mere shadow of his former self, living in constant fear that his crimes will come to light or that the ghosts of his victims will take their revenge.

William Shakespeare's (1564-1616) "Macbeth", one of the most powerful and violent dramas ever written, reads today as a profound psychological thriller: consumed by ambition and a lust for power, Macbeth and his wife know no moral limits and literally walk over corpses. Yet they cannot silence their own conscience - and so become victims of themselves.