Watch Macbeth with Patrick Stewart: Rupert Goold’s Dystopian Take on the Scottish Play

A Brutal Tale Reborn

Few Shakespearean productions have the cinematic intensity and political edge of Rupert Goold’s Macbeth, now streaming on Marquee TV. Set in a grim, militarized world reminiscent of 20th-century totalitarian regimes, this adaptation of the Scottish Play stars Sir Patrick Stewart in a career-defining performance as the power-hungry general. Kate Fleetwood returns as Lady Macbeth, offering a haunting portrayal that matches Stewart's every move with icy ambition.

Originally staged by Chichester Festival Theatre and later transferring to the West End and Broadway, Goold’s production became a Tony Award-nominated sensation. Its transformation into a television film only sharpened its impact—thanks in large part to the claustrophobic, war-bunker setting of Welbeck Abbey in Nottinghamshire. This Macbeth trades misty moors for concrete corridors and dimly lit hospital wards, amplifying the terror with an unnervingly modern realism.

Shakespeare Meets Stalinism

Rupert Goold’s vision sets Macbeth not in 11th-century Scotland, but in an Eastern Bloc dictatorship evocative of Ceaușescu-era Romania. This isn’t just an aesthetic shift—it’s a bold directorial lens that transforms the tragedy into a political thriller. The atmosphere is brutal and oppressive, laced with surveillance, military uniforms, and propaganda iconography.

By transposing Shakespeare’s themes of tyranny and paranoia into a modern-day dictatorship, Goold underscores the play’s continued relevance. Macbeth’s bloody ascent to power becomes not only a psychological horror but a parable of fascist ambition.

The film’s production design reinforces this reading. Tight spaces, flickering lights, and pervasive shadows mirror Macbeth’s deteriorating mental state. Every setting—from the sterile hospital rooms where the witches lurk as nurses, to the underground halls echoing with gunfire—feels like a manifestation of Macbeth’s inner turmoil.

Patrick Stewart’s Macbeth: A Masterclass in Controlled Descent

Sir Patrick Stewart, a veteran of the Royal Shakespeare Company and a global screen icon, delivers a Macbeth who is as compelling as he is terrifying. His interpretation avoids the caricature of madness; instead, we watch a soldier withering under the burden of prophecy, guilt, and ambition. His performance is measured and magnetic, especially in soliloquies that simmer with internal conflict.

Stewart’s gravitas elevates the role, lending both dignity and menace to a character who could easily be dismissed as a tyrant. He makes us believe in Macbeth’s nobler past even as we witness his moral collapse.

Opposite him, Kate Fleetwood is electric as Lady Macbeth. Her cold intensity, combined with moments of striking vulnerability, turns the character into a complex portrait of complicity and unraveling. The chemistry between Stewart and Fleetwood is chilling—less romantic than transactional, more bonded by shared desire than love.

The Witches, Reimagined

One of the most daring aspects of this adaptation is the reinterpretation of the Three Witches. Played by hospital nurses, they are silent, eerie presences who move with clinical detachment. This portrayal strips away the supernatural spectacle often associated with the characters and replaces it with something far more unsettling—an institutionalized, almost bureaucratic embodiment of fate.

Their silent appearances become the film’s most disturbing moments. Without a word, they bend reality to their will, suggesting a world where horror is routine, and death is merely paperwork. It’s a masterstroke that deepens the sense of dread.

A Political Thriller in Poetic Form

Despite its modern setting, the film remains remarkably faithful to Shakespeare’s original text. Goold doesn’t dilute the language—instead, he allows the performances and mise-en-scène to bring clarity and immediacy. Viewers unfamiliar with Elizabethan English will find the visuals and acting illuminate the text in powerful ways.

This makes Macbeth accessible without sacrificing its poetry. The iambic pentameter hums beneath military drills and gunshots, reminding us that this is not just a political parable, but a timeless tragedy rooted in human desire and fear.

A Legacy of Excellence

Macbeth has seen countless reinterpretations—from Orson Welles’ noir-infused version to Justin Kurzel’s cinematic epic—but Goold’s vision, grounded in real-world political horror, may be the most thematically urgent of all. It's a masterclass in adaptation: faithful to the spirit of Shakespeare, yet fearlessly contemporary.

The cast's theatrical pedigree, especially that of Stewart and Fleetwood, ensures every scene crackles with intention. Their Broadway-honed performances translate beautifully to screen, combining theatrical intensity with cinematic intimacy.