Is He Dead? Out, Stewart's Macbeth In At The Lyceum

The Brooklyn Academy of Music's current import of Macbeth, starring Patrick Stewart and Kate Fleetwood, will transfer to Broadway at the end of March.

The show will run for eight weeks at the Lyceum Theatre. The announcement came hot on the heels of news that Is He Dead? will vacate the Lyceum on March 9th.

The production, which originated at the Chichester Festival in England, is directed by Rupert Goold and is set in a "subterranean kitchen that serves as a military hospital in a timeless and nameless country." This adaptation of Macbeth reimagines the classic Shakespearean tragedy in modern dress, drawing a parallel between the behaviors on display in the story and their modern day equivalents both in life and in modern media. (The Daily Mail's own review characterizes the dress changes as vaguely Tarantino-esque.)

Macbeth premiered on May 25, 2007 at the Chichester Festival Theatre’s Minerva Theatre where it played to sold-out houses. The production transferred to London’s West End on September 21, 2007 where it enjoyed a sold-out 10-week run at the Gielgud Theatre and was awarded two Evening Standard Theatre Awards — one for Stewart’s performance and another for Goold’s direction. The show transferred to BAM's Harvey Theatre in New York City for a once again sold out run beginning on February 12th. Performances will conclude at BAM on March 22nd before transferring to Broadway.

Leads Stewart and Fleetwood (as Lady Macbeth) are joined by Paul Shelley (Duncan), Scott Handy (Malcolm), Ben Carpenter (Donalbain), Martin Turner (Banquo), Michael Feast (Macduff), Mark Rawlings (Lennox), Tim Treloar (Ross), Bill Nash (Angus), Christopher Knott (Old Seyward), Oliver Birch (Lady Macbeth's servant), Christopher Patrick Nolan (Seyton), Hywel John (Bloody Sergeant), Suzanne Burden (Lady Macduff), Polly Frame, Niamh McGrady and Sophie Hunter (Witches). The cast is expected to continue on to the Broadway run.

Macbeth's design team comprises Anthony Ward (production design), Howard Harrison (lighting design), Adam Cork (composition and sound design), Lorna Heavey (video and projection design), Georgina Lamb (movement director), and Terry King (fight director).

Stewart is iconic for his sci-fi screen work as Captain Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek and Professor Xavier in the X-Men movies. He is also well known to theater audiences for his headlining stage work in the Royal Shakespeare Company. Stewart is slated to return to the RSC stage as Claudius in Hamlet later this year.

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