Ethan Hawke will take on one of the most famous roles in theatre. He will be playing the title role in Shakespeare’s Macbeth at the Lincoln Center Theater on Broadway. This is not the first time Hawke has tackled Shakespeare, he received favourable reviews for his performance as the rebel Hotspur in Henry IV.

Macbeth will see Hawke reunited with theatre director Jack O’Brien, whom he worked with on Henry IV and Stoppard’s The Coast of Utopia. Hawke also starred in a 2000 film production of Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Macbeth or the ‘Scottish Play’, for those who are a thespian background, centres on a Scottish noble and his power hungry wife. To gain the throne Macbeth is obliged to murder a number of his friends including the King of Scotland. The whole fiasco ends in tragedy with rebellion, suicide, madness and a walking wood. Macbeth is without doubt Shakespeare’s bloodiest and most macabre tragedy. Hawke is not one to shy away from unpleasant topics as his work has included the horror film Sinister, crime thriller What Doesn’t Kill You and the vampire thriller Daybreakers. The play has been the topic of numerous feature films and documentaries.

Other actors who have played Macbeth include Laurence Olivier, Sir Ian McKellen and David Tennant. With some of the greatest actors of our times to be compared to, Hawke has set himself a tough task. We will have to wait until October to see if Hawke can pull off such a demanding role.

Previews of the production will begin on October 24 and opening night is set for November 12.

Ethan Hawke Before Midnight
Hawke is big news once again

Ethan Hawke Hat
Ethan Hawke in a hat, being a gent