The conflict in today’s Congo is an inspired setting for this striking adaptation of Verdi’s arresting opera. In this re-creation, a group of Congolese refugees has stumbled upon a trunk filled with sheet music, costumes and gramophone recordings of Verdi’s Macbeth. This theatrical paraphernalia is the catalyst for a dramatic re-telling of Shakespeare’s tale of greed, tyranny and remorse, with the Macbeths as warlords, the three witches as double-crossing businessmen and Dunsinane as the Great Lakes region of Central Africa.

War rages over access to mineral resources.

Macbeth has been adapted from Verdi’s original score by Belgian composer Fabrizio Cassol. Performed by a 12-piece on-stage chamber orchestra – the spirited trans-Balkan ‘No Borders Orchestra’ – conducted by Premil Petrovic with 10 rich-voiced South African singers, and with captivating lighting design by Felice Ross, this is theatre for today: moving, fascinating, fast-paced and threaded through with African musical and theatrical influences.

This event is taking place as part of the Brisbane Festival.