I'd pay a lot of money to see that..

And because I have an odd sense of humor, I'd want Crow to pop up every once in a while and break the fourth wall to shout "McLeod!," like from the MST3K of "Pod People," as an ironic commentary on all the "Mac" names.

And maybe Seton trotting along after the Thane, occasionally interpolating rude finger gestures....

Actually, the worst version of a WS play I've ever seen was of Macbeth also, in a local Shakespeare-in-the-park. The acting was terrible, but when the invading soldiers came onto the strobe-lit stage via zipline from some trees, it made us all laugh so hard that it was almost worth it.

but when the invading soldiers came onto the strobe-lit stage via zipline from some trees, it made us all laugh so hard that it was almost worth it.

Bwah! FIASCO!

Oh, dear..... (chewing lips hard to keep from snerking)

I can't laugh at that. I'm firmly convinced if I laugh at the Scots play, I'll get hit by lightning.

That's what lecturing on the damned thing does to the brain.

Absolutely. Cleese has the darkness, but he's too blunt to be scheming and wiley. He'd be better as MacBeth. Maybe Palin as the Mrs.

Cleese is definitely Macbeth. Terry Jones his delicate flower. Eric Idle is Banquo.

I saw Macbeth on a summer twilight at the Bristol Zoo, of all places, my year in England. It was a straightforward performance by a small company (so there were a few people doing two roles), with minimalist staging and costuming, and it worked very well. Somehow the occasional distant lion's roar enhanced the atmosphere perfectly.

I saw it performed by Actors from the London Stage. Some from RSC, one who'd worked under Olivier, all with excellent credentials. Five actors. One play. It was like nothing I'd ever seen before.

Each actor played about six parts, and they indicated who they were both by how they wore their sash and their voices, which was surprisingly effective.

No props but the musical instruments they often used to very interesting effect. A circle denoted the stage proper, and chairs outside the circle gave them places to sit down.

Fuck scene changes. The action was completely fluid, as one scene ended and the actors left the circle, the next scene's actors jumped right into the circle and began the next scene.

They savored the language. Sometimes it felt less like a staging of the play than a reading without the script. Sometimes it felt like they were overacting, becoming unduly emotional, but that's just style, I guess. And they were British, so it all sounded so much righter.

And God, they were good. They didn't slip up once. Not a single flub. And to have to slip between characters...at first I was impressed when one of the actors stepped outside the circle, having finished the Porter scene, and turned around as Lennox, but the crowning moment was the banquet scene, when the woman playing Ross bade the guests rise, as Macbeth was not well, and immediately walked to her left and became Lady Macbeth, bidding them to sit down. To watch them in action, effortlessly fixing their sashes, changing voices...wow.

That's one of the trickiest ways to stage it, P-C, but unarguably one of the most effective when the cast and director pull it off.