The Story

In the shadows of Soho’s backrooms and battered gay bars, ambition stalks the dancefloor.

The production transposes Shakespeare's tragedy to the backrooms and gay bars of Soho, where ambition and rivalry play out on the dancefloor. Prophecy, power struggles and betrayal drive the story, while outside the club, riots and police sirens frame a society in which queerness is criminalised. The soundtrack draws on 1980s British synth pop, including music by Depeche Mode, Soft Cell and Pet Shop Boys, which runs through the nights of the action.

The piece is presented as an all-new version of Macbeth, with its themes of paranoia, loyalty and violence reframed around persecution and survival. Its central question is how far a person would go to rule when the law denies their existence. The tone is dark and defiant, and the staging leans heavily on club lighting and period style.

The show is staged at the National Theatre Olivier, a theatre that hosts concerts and shows in London. It will appeal to audiences interested in reworkings of classic drama and in the music and culture of 1980s London nightlife.