The Teatro Nacional D. Maria II in Lisbon is reopening this week after being closed for renovation works since 2023, marking its return with a new staging of William Shakespeare's Macbeth. The production is directed and translated by Pedro Penim, with José Raposo and Bárbara Branco in the lead roles.
Penim said he is aware of the irony of casting Raposo, whom he described as the country's most beloved actor, in the role of one of the villains of world theatre. Even so, he chose Macbeth to reopen the historic venue.
A Cursed Play With a History of Disaster
Macbeth has long been known in theatre circles as the "cursed play," with centuries of reported mishaps and tragedies surrounding productions of it, including injured performers, stage props swapped for real weapons, and deaths during performances.
Portugal has its own chapter in that history. In 1964, following a performance of the play, the Teatro Nacional D. Maria II was hit by a fire that destroyed almost the entire interior of the building.
Real Fire and a Tribute to the Original Theatre
Penim, the venue's current artistic director, acknowledged that reopening with Macbeth carries a sense of "provocation." To add to that, his production uses real fire on stage.
The set, designed by Joana Sousa, reproduces the facade of the theatre itself, and one of the characters in the production is D. Maria II, played by João Grosso, as a tribute to the venue.
Penim said the use of fire is not something that worries him, insisting that everything is controlled and that firefighters are stationed on the stage during performances.
The Story and a New Translation
Macbeth tells the story of an ambitious couple who decide nothing will stand in the way of their rise to the throne, committing a series of killings to get there before finding they have lost the ability to sleep at night.
Penim translated the text while keeping its verse form, but said he did so in a way that everyone can understand. Rather than framing the story around "ambition," he chose to build his translation around the idea of "imagination."
Penim said it is the protagonists' imagination that drives them to act, and that in this they are no different from anyone else.
Cast and Anniversary
The cast includes Bárbara Branco as Lady Macbeth, alongside Hugo Van Der Ding, Vítor Silva Costa and José Neves.
The production premieres on Friday, 18 September, and will have free admission for three days, from 18 to 20 September. The run also marks 180 years since the Teatro Nacional D. Maria II first opened, in 1846.
