Storyhouse Originals relaunch with Macbeth

Chester's Storyhouse will launch a new series of classic plays in spring with a production of Shakespeare's Macbeth (March 6-21, 2026).

The production will see a return to the venue’s thrust staging, bringing the action out into the audience, and will feature video, soundscapes and dramatic lighting.

Storyhouse creative director Suzie Henderson said: “Our director, Jamie Sophia Fletcher has taken Shakespeare’s original text and created a fast-paced, contemporary-feeling adaptation with an emphasis on clarity of storytelling. Presenting it in the intimate surroundings of our thrust stage will also mean viewers are drawn into the action.”

A programme of educational workshops based on the production will take place on stage and involve actors and creatives. A third, schools-only, date has already been added after two scheduled schools’ performances sold out within days of their announcement. There will also be two teatime public performances, to enable as many young people as possible to attend.

The production marks the much-anticipated return of Shakespeare to Storyhouse and will also be the first of a number of adaptations of classics under the Storyhouse Originals banner, the Chester venue’s strand of home-grown productions, which includes Miss Julie, Bluestockings, Sophocles’ Antigone, Faustus: That Damned Woman, The Parent Agency and Kinky Boots, as well as Storyhouse’s popular annual Christmas productions and shows at Grosvenor Park Open Air Theatre.

Storyhouse executive producer Helen Redcliffe said: “We love Shakespeare here, and produced it in Grosvenor Park for many years. But we’re really excited to be bringing it back inside, to explore the timeless human themes and emotions alongside all the state-of-the-art technology available in our theatre.”

More info and tickets here