Theatre News

Alan Cumming Perform One-man Macbeth for NTS

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30 November 2011

As part of its 2012 season, the National Theatre of Scotland has announced that Alan Cumming will star in a one-man version of Macbeth in Glasgow before transferring to New York.

Speaking to The Stage about the National Theatre’s first Shakespeare production, Cumming said: “I had this idea I wanted to swap the roles of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, because there are so many things about gender, I thought it would be a really exciting idea to flip that.”

In addition to an extensive film and television CV, Cumming’s stage credits include the Emcee in Sam Mendes‘ revival of Cabaret, for which he received an Olivier nomination and a Tony Award for the Broadway transfer. He also won an Olivier Award for playing the Maniac in Dario Fo’s Accidental Death of an Anarchist.

“Andy Goldberg had this idea I should just play all the parts,” Cumming said, “Never one to refuse a challenge, we decided to do it.”

The 2012 NTS season will also include Glasgow Girls, a musical about teenage asylum seekers, My Shrinking Life, which examines life with multiple sclerosis, and a musical version of The Wicker Man.

“The National Theatre of Scotland was created to reach and appeal to a wide range of diverse audiences across Scotland,” NTS artistic director Vicky Featherstone said. “Our 2012 season, in collaboration with so many of Scotland’s extraordinary artists and companies is an example of that.”

– Natalie Generalovich