Something Wicked This Way Comes… A play full of secrets

Despite it being June, there’s a chill in the air at TFT. The skies are darkening. And somewhere on the horizon, three figures are gathering in the gloom with more than a little toil and trouble in their midst.

Tobacco Factory Theatres is thrilled to announce that our next Bard outing, coming to the stage in February/March 2026, will be one of Shakespeare’s most iconic and unsettling plays: Macbeth.

With its supernatural menace, psychological torment and razor-sharp pacing, Macbeth casts a spell that is impossible to resist. Our new in-house production, directed by our very own Heidi Vaughan, will bring fresh urgency to a story that feels more relevant than ever.

But behind the blood and betrayal lies a play full of secrets… 

Did you know that Macbeth is Shakespeare’s shortest tragedy? At just over 2,000 lines, it hurtles through a nightmarish spiral of ambition, murder and madness with breathless intensity. Every moment counts. Every word pulses with tension. It’s a story told on fast-forward-perfect for audiences hungry for theatre that gets under your skin. 

And yet, for all its brevity, Macbeth leaves a long shadow. Perhaps it’s the witches, who speak in riddles and rhyme, conjuring their chilling prophecies with language drawn from real 17th-century spells. Or perhaps it’s the infamous curse that surrounds the play, so feared by theatre folk that many still refuse to speak its name inside a performance space, referring to it only as “The Scottish Play.” Tales of accidents, injuries and ghostly mishaps have followed Macbeth through the centuries, only adding to its dark mystique. 

Then there’s Lady Macbeth-a character so psychologically complex, so racked with guilt, that her sleepwalking scene became a source of fascination for 19th-century physicians studying mental health. Shakespeare may not have known the word “trauma,” but in Lady Macbeth’s fractured mind, he captured it with chilling precision. 

Macbeth was also a play written with purpose. Penned in the early 1600s, it was designed to appeal directly to King James I, who had a deep fascination with witchcraft and the supernatural. James, of course, was also King of Scotland-and Macbeth is the only Shakespeare tragedy set entirely in that land of mist and myth. The play weaves real Scottish history with otherworldly fantasy, giving us a world where fate is written in blood, and power comes at an unbearable price. 

Worth noting also that Macbeth is THE only Shakespeare play to include the word ‘rhinoceros’. You’re welcome. 

So why Macbeth, and why now? 

Because we live in a world where ambition still cuts deep. Where truth is easily twisted. Where people in power are haunted by the choices they make—and by the voices that whisper in the dark. 

This is a play for our times. And this will be a Macbeth like no other. 

Stay close for casting news, creative announcements and behind-the-scenes glimpses into the world we’re building. But be warned… 

Something wicked this way comes… 

Get ahead of the crowd! Become a member of TFT and get the pick of the seats for tickets go on sale to the general public. Click here to find out more about memberships. 

Macbeth goes on sale to Member on Tuesday 17 June at 10am and to the general public on Thursday 19 June at 10am.