Arts Council England is to fund a reimagining of Shakespeare’s Macbeth which is part of the commissioning programme at Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry.
Macbeth, Blood Will Have Blood is aimed at children aged 9 to 13 and is a collaboration between the Arts Centre, educationalists Contender Charlie and theatre producers China Plate.
The project will tour next year, reaching more than 3,000 young people and about 200 teachers and carers from 33 schools.
It will be staged at Warwick Arts Centre; Dartington Arts, Totnes, Devon; Burnley Youth Theatre; and Lamplight Arts Centre, Stanley, County Durham.
Nick Walker has adapted Shakespeare’s play which will be co-directed by Contender Charlie’s Ben Walden and Paul Warwick of China Plate.
Part of the Triggered@Warwick commissioning and artist development programme, Macbeth, Blood Will Have Blood aims to reach audiences in areas of low engagement with the arts.
The new work puts children right at the centre of Shakespeare’s tragedy, conjuring the supernatural world of Macbeth all around them and allowing them to interact with the play.
China Plate will also be producing an online game in which students will become characters within the play.