Teller from Penn & Teller does Shakespeare with actual magic tricks. Yes, really.
Adaptation of Shakespeare's play presented for the Folger Shakespeare Library, and directed by Aaron Posner and Teller.
Direction
Teller's magic background makes the supernatural actually feel supernatural
Production
Stripped-down carnival aesthetic—blood as ribbon, daggers that appear from nowhere
Acting
Ian Merrill Peakes plays Macbeth like a man already haunted before the haunting
Director
Aaron Posner
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Teller (the silent half of Penn & Teller) co-directed and personally designed the magic illusions, including the dagger apparition and Banquo's ghost.
This production explicitly connects to the 2000s 'War on Terror' anxiety—Posner noted they wanted audiences to feel 'complicit in watching violence.' The Weird Sisters were modeled on carnival barkers and cable news pundits.
US
