Plot Summary

The Tragedy of Macbeth is as story about power, and the ways in which the desire to obtain and maintain it can corrupt. Following a successful battle against rebel forces, King Duncan of Scotland learns that one of the captains in the fight, Macbeth, showed particular bravery, and decides to honor him with a title that one of the traitors lost— the Thane of Cawdor. Meanwhile, Macbeth and his friend and brother-in-arms, Banquo, come across three mysterious Weird Sisters in the forest. These figures greet them with cryptic prophecies— first, recognizing Macbeth’s current title, the Thane of Glamis, then hailing the new one he has not yet received, the Thane of Cawdor, and finally hailing him as “King that shalt be.” When Macbeth is almost immediately awarded with his new title, he becomes consumed with the promise that he will become king. He returns home to his wife, Lady Macbeth, who has also become obsessed with the desire for the crown. When King Duncan arrives at their home, the Macbeths must make a decision— do they wait for the prophecy to come true, or do they take matters into their own violent hands? Their rapid rise to power, and equally sudden downfall, creates a story that is a quickly advancing avalanche of betrayal, violence, and revolution, which ensures that their lives, and Scotland itself, will never be the same.

Special thanks to our sponsors: Mackinac Island Community Foundation, The Adolph Family, Hank Perritt, Kilwins of Mackinac Island, Mackinac Arts Council

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