TNSJ streams top of the list event: Macbeth is on stream on 15th May, at 10pm

"Macbeth" by William Shakespeare is presented at Teatro Nacional São João (TNJS) online, on 15th May. At 10pm. Direction, set and costume design by Nuno Carinhas.  

The current public health crisis has had a terrible impact on the performing arts; still, there are tremendous opportunities that people can grasp. Some of the best artwork is now available on stream. Such is the case of "Macbeth", by Shakespeare, the play that TNSJ features in its virtual season.

The show is available for viewing till the end of Sunday, 17th May.

After sold-out performances in 2017, the in-house production based on "The Tragedy of Macbeth" (the play's full title) is streamed on Vimeo (https://vimeo.com/showcase/tnsj) and the TNSJ website.

João Reis and Emília Silvestre are the main characters in Macbeth. Reis portrays the brave Scottish general who, upon a prophecy from a trio of witches that one day he will become King of Scotland, is driven by ambition and spurred to action by his wife.

As such, Macbeth murders King Duncan and takes the Scottish throne for himself. Forced to commit more and more murders to protect himself from plots and enemies he soon becomes a tyrannical ruler. The consequent civil war takes Macbeth and Lady Macbeth into a swirl of paranoia and death.

Macbeth is the shortest of Shakespeare's tragedies and that brevity has also been connected to the fast pace of the first act, and the oddness of Macbeth himself compared with other Shakespearean tragic heroes.

In the backstage world of theatre, the play is believed to be cursed, and its title will not be mentioned aloud, instead it is referred as "The Scottish Play".