Hampton Court Palace
A picture of the Hampton Court Palace where Macbeth was likely originally performed for King James I of England.
Background Information
First Performance
The first public performance of Macbeth was at the outdoor Globe Theatre in April 1611 dated by an eyewitness account of Dr. Simon Forman. However, Macbeth was likely first performed prior to this account in 1606, as a private performance for King James, at Hampton Court.
Globe Theater
Artwork of the Globe Theater where the first public performance of Macbeth occurred. The Globe Theater was a large theater that housed Shakespeare's plays since 1599. The theater has remained a successful business from its creation to the present day.
The Play
Macbeth is about a man who saves the king's crown from a battle but is then told by three witches that he will eventually become king. Soon after he returned the crown to the king, he killed the king and became king himself. However, after his success, he becomes power hungry and gets himself killed by the previous king's son.
The Three Witches
A painting showing the three witches in Macbeth.
The Roles
During the time of Shakespeare, female actors were not allowed to act on stage. As a result, female characters such as Lady Macbeth had to be played by boys or men.
Superstitions
Macbeth is said to be cursed because many dangerous and even deadly events have happened during the production of the play over the years. This is because Shakespeare is said to have used the spells of real witches in his text, angering the witches, prompting them to curse the play. Events like mysterious deaths, riots, falling stage props, and the accidental use of real knives are attributed to this "curse". The oldest rumor of these occurrences was at the first showing for the king where the young actor playing Lady Macbeth mysteriously died mid-way through the play and their role had to be played by Shakespeare himself. As a result of this superstition, many people believe it is bad luck to refer to Macbeth by name in a theater so they simply refer to it as The Scottish Play.
King James I of England
Many aspects of Macbeth reference King James I and many people believe Shakespeare wrote it as a tribute to King James I.