'What, can the Devil speak true?'

In 1605 Ben Jonson and his fellow playwrights had incurred the anger of James 1, and a term of imprisonment, for the production of 'Eastward Ho', performed by the boys of Blackfriars, which poked fun at James' Scottish accent and at the honour and privileges accorded to the Scottish supporters he had brought south with him. The notorious Gunpowder Plot was soon to shock both the English Protestants and the loyal English Catholics who feared a backlash and it was with all these issues in mind that Shakespeare embarked upon his only play with a Scottish theme.

What may have given him his inspiration was a short pageant performed for James in late August of 1605 when he was visiting Oxford with the Earl of Southampton. This depicted Banquo's greeting by three 'weird sisters or fairies' as 'no king but to be the father of many kings', as recounted in Holinshed's Chronicles, and was meant as a compliment to James who claimed direct descent from Banquo. A further pandering to James may be indicated by the fact that the play is one of Shakespeare's shortest, and shows signs of cuts. The king had a notoriously low boredom threshold!

The result is a fast moving adventure story of great power. The blood-soaked plot is redeemed by the speed and power of the narrative and a central character who, though a murderer of awesome brutality, possesses a fascinating mind full of dark poetic introspection. As Schlegel so aptly concludes 'Since Aeschylus, nothing so grand and terrible has ever been composed'.

This will be the second time that Macbeth has been presented at 'The George'. The first production by John Sheard was in the hot summer of 1976, when actors wilted a little in their furs! It is a difficult play to present in the daylight and can too easily descend into melodrama. We hope that our patrons will forgive us if the occasional noises from a working hotel interfere a little with the moments of drama and suspense.

Macbeth can be enjoyed at many levels. On the surface it is a fast moving story of witchcraft, murder and retribution. At a deeper level it explores the philosophy and psychology of evil itself. For many years it has held the fascination of audiences and challenged performers and it is with tremendous excitement that The George Trust once more present this truly great play.

Michael G Williamson
Director