Macbeth is among the best-known of William Shakespeare's plays, and is his shortest tragedy, believed to have been written between 1603 and 1606. It is frequently performed at both amateur and professional levels, and has been adapted for opera, film, books, stage and screen. Often regarded as archetypal, the play tells of the dangers of the lust for power and the betrayal of friends. For the plot Shakespeare drew loosely on the historical account of King Macbeth of Scotland by Raphael Holinshed and that by the Scottish philosopher Hector Boece. There are many superstitions centred on the belief the play is somehow "cursed", and many actors will not mention the name of the play aloud, referring to it instead as "The Scottish play".

マクベスは、野心と良心の呵責がせめぎ合う人間の深淵を描き出した悲劇の最高峰です。予言という毒に侵され、高潔な武将が冷酷な暴君へと堕ちていく心理的凋落こそが本作の真髄。漆黒の闇に染まっていく夫婦の精神世界は、数世紀を経てもなお読む者の魂を激しく揺さぶり、生々しい恐怖を突きつけます。 数多の映像化がその様式美を競っていますが、原作の詩的な比喩が脳裏に直接結ぶ情景は、いかなる映像をも凌駕する深みを湛えています。映像の持つ具体性と、テキストの独白が誘う底知れぬ想像力を重ね合わせることで、この傑作の普遍性はより鮮烈に立ち上がるはずです。言葉が放つ熱量に、ぜひ圧倒されてください。