We three.

Macbeth is synonymous with that opening scene with the ‘we three’. They swoop in, landing us into the story with a bang as they double double, toil and trouble, fire burn and cauldron bubble…

They drop a bombshell, but then they largely step aside as the main players take it from there.

Not so here.

Scotland is at war with Norway.
While men fight, the women gather at night. 
A group of witches tell a Scottish general he will be King.
Encouraged by these women and the most important one in his life, the General fulfils their prophecy.
Blood. Destiny. Manipulation. Power.

Brought to the really very lovely Hope Mill theatre by HER Productions, Girl Gang Manchester and Unseemly Women, This Macbeth is not about to let the ‘We three’ slip away so easily.

Almost a year to the day in the very same location, with the very same Unseemly Women, with a play by the very same writer, The Taming of the Shrew , crash landed and blew us away.

This production of the Scottish play has the same energy. And let’s face it, Lady Macbeth has always been one of literature’s great female characters who refuses to stay in her lane, dubious morals aside…

This production takes it one step further with, again, an all-female and non-binary cast.

Co-founder of HER and Co-Director of Macbeth Hannah Ellis Ryan comments:

“Amy (Gavin, Director) and I have so enjoyed pouring over the shadowy world of ‘Macbeth’ in preparation for our 2026 Shakespeare. We managed to place The Taming of the ‘Shrew’ in a female world and that’s exactly what we want to do with ‘Macbeth’. Most people, hilariously, find the Witches and Lady Macbeth the most memorable parts of the story, so for us, as women telling this story, we want to lean into that. The women of war. The cost of war. How it feels to raise children, birth them and then watch bodies pile up during war. This is the heartbeat of the story we want to tell.”

Paryce Richards, Pavanveer Sagoo and Zoey Barnes as the Witches are inspired. Each time they entered the ‘in the round’ stage, (and to be fair, there was very little time that they were away, those hard-working witches, them), I almost wanted to applaud, American live-studio audience sitcom style.

In ethereal white, they would cackle, scream, whisper, chant, literally bend over backwards as they commanded the stage with their beautifully choreographed movements. And when hiding in plain sight as they interacted with the main players, I delighted in the ‘glitch’ as they exited, with a twitch and a tell-tale click.

But let us not cast our Lady Macbeth, the OG, back into the shadows. Frankie Lipman reclaimed this role as her own, gave it a shake, let all the pieces settle down and ventured forth.

With my ringside seat to every raising of an eyebrow, steely-eyed expression of determination, and consequently wide-eyed fear as all descended into madness and devastation, it was unnerving to be in such close quarters. And hurrah to that.

Shout-outs to all our cast led by Elaine McNichol in the title role as they unflinchingly held their own in this much-performed, much revered tale.

From the moment the lights went down and focus given to the tin bath centre-stage, and unapologetically harrowing depiction of a young Lady Macbeth and still-birth, you knew this wasn’t going to be a production that held back. Fast forward to the end, as rhythmic drumming punctuates the air as Macbeth meets his fate (and we meet his severed head in a sack – which delighted this little death-hag right here), the bookends to this production might suggest that shock-tactics were the order of the day, but this was far from the case.

Macabre was met head-on by strong acting performances, strong-holds by the actors on characters we’ve seen time and time again, and original staging of a play which both literally and figuratively demonstrated a strong female resistance to the notion that the only wars that take place are those with men on the battlefield.

Catch Macbeth at Hope Mill theatre, Manchester, until 29 June. It then moves onto the Lawrence Batley theatre, Huddersfield.

MACBETH – Hope Mill Theatre

Macbeth | Lawrence Batley Theatre

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MACBETH CAST:

ELAINE MCNICOL – Macbeth

FRANKIE LIPMAN – Lady Macbeth

CIARA TANSY – Macduff

NAOMI ALBANS – Duncan

MIRANDA PARKER – Porter & Hecate

PARYCE RICHARDS – Witch 

ZOEY BARNES – Witch

PAVANVEER SAGOO – Witch

LUCY ENDERBY – Malcolm

LEILA UWIMANA – Banquo

CATHERINE TRAVELLER – Ross

LAURA PERCIVAL – Donalbain

NAINA DHILLON – Lady MacDuff

MACBETH CREATIVE TEAM:

HANNAH ELLIS RYAN – Director & Co-Producer

AMY GAVIN – Director

KAYLEIGH HAWKINS – Co-Producer

PETER STONE – Production Manager

YANDASS NDLOVU – Movement Director

HANNAH BRACEGIRDLE – Sound Designer

KATY ERRINGTON – Lighting Designer 

LAURA BOWLER – Composer

ZOEY BARNES – Costume Designer

SABINE SULMEISTERE – Stage Manager

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Production photos: Lowri Burkinshaw