With a startling crash and the thunderous noise of a raging battle, the sparse stage erupts in a scene of turmoil in a military field hospital, and the tone of director Rupert Goold's production is immediately set.

The audience finds itself not in a Scotland of yesteryear, but in a location with echoes of an Eastern European totalitarian state, complete with goose-stepping soldiers.

The setting of the field hospital provides a theatrical pun, with the nursing sisters metamorphosising into the three weird sisters. Throughout the play their starched, uniformed appearances taunt Macbeth.

The production crackles with tension and energy both in the performances and the chilling sound effects. It is full of clever inventiveness, with perhaps a couple of quirky gimmicks that jar.

The scene where the drunken porter changes places with a member of the audience comes across as meaningless and misplaced. The "Double, Double" speech is also delivered by the witches as a rap, losing its clarity.

Much better is the handling of the murder of Banquo, which is set on board a simulated train that segues into the banquet scene, with Banquo's appearance marked by the walls being bathed in projected blood.

The scene has a touch of black comedy, with the guests dancing a variation of musical chairs and Macbeth stepping into the bloodied arms of Banquo.

Patrick Stewart, as Macbeth, gives a finely delineated performance and demonstrates well the power of corruption as he transforms the character from a weak-willed vassal of his ambitious wife into the murdering butcher who stops at nothing to achieve his ends.

His verse speaking is almost conversational in its clarity, matched by that of Michael Feast's as Macduff, whose grief at the news of his wife and children's murder is truly piteous.

Kate Fleetwood is impressive as Lady Macbeth, as her character follows a reverse path from her husband - a tower of strength who disintegrates as the nightmares take over.

Her opening speech on learning of the witches' prophecies is chilling, with her body trembling as though possessed when calling to be unsexed.

  • For tickets call 01243 781312.