THE SCOTTISH BALLET

17 September 2026

I’ve seen many versions of the Scottish Play aka Shakespeare’s Macbeth. You’re not supposed to mention its name in a theatre but as I’m typing this into the Cloud, I’ll be brave and call it as it is.

I’ve seen MTC’s production with Jai Courtney directed by Simon Phillips as well as cut down versions we did for our Education program. I’ve seen an interesting take on Lady Macbeth called Macbeth: an Undoing at Malthouse. I’ve seen the brilliant New York warehouse performance piece based on Macbeth called Sleep No More. I’ve seen an utterly terrible production, unfortunately in Edinburgh. And I’ve seen the impressive Noongar language version of the play in the 2020 Perth Festival. And then there are film versions such as the NT Live production starring David Tennant and Cush Jumbo. But I’ve never seen a ballet based on Macbeth. After all, Shakespeare is all about words, isn’t he? But then one has to remember that those words are about emotions and relatioinships and ballet can do that well.





This coproduction between the New Zealand Ballet and the WA Ballet, choreographed by Bendigo’s Alice Topp with music by English-Australia film composer Christopher Gordon, lighting/set by lighting/set designer Jon Buswell and costumes by Aleisa Jelbart was a revelation…..as everyone kept saying afterwords - the woman next to me; the people in the lift; the arts manager and his wife in the car park. At the beginning, I wasn’t sure. As well as being ballet - all that movement and Shakespeare’s words reduced to an occasional projection on a screen? - it was also set now, in the corporate/political world of board rooms. Everyone was in grey tones and suits. But as the music started, the energy built. There was a live string octet in the pit playing along side recorded music that ranged from heavy metal to jazz with some strong drum work in between. And the dancers! On the night I saw it the leads were performed by Charles Dashwood and Alexa Tuzil. The interaction in the pas de deux’ was consistently brilliant. Physical. Emotional. Challenging. 


Whether the scene was Lady Macbeth shaving her leg over a claw bath or Banquo and his son playing billiards or the messenger delivering the news to Macduffabout the death of his wife and babes with a teddy bear, each element of the story was well told. And the interpretation of the witches was brilliant - three influencers, forever flouncing and posing and taking selfies as they predicted/created the future for Macbeth.





One of the most impressive new ballets I’ve seen. 

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