The anniversary of Shakespeare’s birth is to be marked by the release of a new adaptation of Macbeth, with a modern twist.
The Scottish play is one of the bard’s best-known works, but an upcoming production will bring the drama to a whole new audience by being made available to watch online.
Starring Last Kingdom and Luther actor Mark Rowley, the film was shot entirely on green screen, featuring a variety of unusual backdrops including hand-painted and computer-modelled vistas.
The new adaptation is directed by Kit Monkman, who says the production was an ‘ideal opportunity’.
“Macbeth is a play that’s fascinated by interiority and imagination and Shakespeare’s storytelling is far from naturalistic so this seemed like an ideal opportunity to explore a more abstract theatrical approach to the screen,” he said.
Meanwhile, chair of the International Shakespeare Association Professor Peter Holland, described the new adaptation as “brilliant and exhilarating”.
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“Brilliant and exhilarating. Kit Monkman’s Macbeth [is] the most innovative rethinking of what it means to put Shakespeare on film for decades.
“A forceful reimagining of Shakespeare’s most famous tragedy.”
The new Macbeth will be available to download on iTunes, Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Sky Store and Vubiquity on the anniversary of Shakespeare’s birth and death, April 23.
