Daniel Craig and Ruth Negga are Broadway’s next Macbeths
The two will lead the next Broadway production of Shakespeare's play helmed by Tony winner Sam Gold
Aux News Ruth Negga
Straight from his longtime role as the iconic James Bond, Daniel Craig will play another well-studied character, Macbeth. Starring in Tony winner Sam Gold’s forthcoming 15-week Broadway production of the Shakespeare play, Ruth Negga (Loving) will appear opposite Craig as Lady Macbeth.
“Daniel is not only a great film actor but a magnificent theatre actor as well,” says Macbeth producer Barbara Broccoli, who also produces the James Bond film franchise. “I am thrilled that he will be supporting the return of Broadway playing this iconic role with the exquisitely talented Ruth Negga making her Broadway debut and under the expert direction of Sam Gold.”
Macbeth’s stage life, of course, traces back to its inception. However, the first Broadway production of the Bard’s play goes all the way back to 1768. The most recent Broadway production starred Ethan Hawke and Anne-Marie Duff as the ill-advised couple in 2013. Months prior, Alan Cumming performed a one-man performance of the play on the big stage.
As the tale of Macbeth returns to the stage, it also returns to the silver screen this year with the upcoming film adaptation by the singular Coen brother—Joel Coen—starring Denzel Washington and Frances McDormand. Across the pond, James McArdle (Mare Of Easttown) and Saoirse Ronan will play the doomed couple in a Yaël Farber-helmed production at the Almeida Theatre in London.
Craig previously worked with Gold on an off-Broadway production of Shakespeare Othello as Iago. He made his Broadway debut opposite Hugh Jackman in a 2009 production of Keith Huff’s A Steady Rain. Shortly before the pandemic shut down stages across the globe, Negga starred in Hamlet as the title Danish royal at St. Ann’s Warehouse. The Oscar nominee makes her Broadway debut with Macbeth.
Other cast announcements are forthcoming. Macbeth will begin previews March 29, 2022 at the Lyceum Theatre ahead of an April 28 opening.
14 Comments
Ruth Negga is a gem and deserves to be better utilized.
Yep. Loved her in Preacher
In seriousness, I’d prefer to see her Macbeth.
I’m rewatching the British series Misfits and just realized that Ruth Negga is in it. The first time I watched it I don’t think I’d seen her in anything before. It’s always fun to revisit something and find out that a character you remember was played by someone who wasn’t famous then but went on to become famous.
How many superstitious actors died to write this article about MacBeth?
*Macsbeth
Obligatory “Ruth Negga being charming while making a terrible Irish coffee” video:
Got damn she poured about 3 fl oz of whiskey in there
rookie numbers
Everyone wants to do Macbeth now. There are going to be comparisons. I wouldn’t want to be the one everyone finds wanting in the production.
I saw Craig do Othello off-Broadway a few years back (playing Iago against David Oyelowo as Othello). He was great which is definitely NOT the case with all the famous film and TV people who producers shove onto the stage – two of the worst I saw were Jessica Chastain and Emilia Clarke. Am sure he will rock it as Macbeth and have tickets already!
That’s interesting (especially the part about Chastain and Clarke). Working on the stage is such hard work but, then again, if you really want to act, that’s where it’s happening, I guess. Film work is such a weird patchwork job – stand here, find the light, say something. Then do it again. Go back to your trailer while another part of the ensemble does their bit… Yeah, I hope they’re great but I’m looking forward to seeing McDormand working with Cohen again.
I would imagine they’re very different – with the ability to do closeups, etc. in film, things that work on stage might seem too broad. Meanwhile, having to remember a couple of hours of dialogue and do the same show eight times a week requires a lot of discipline. Theater training does seem pretty standard for British actors and some of the ones I’ve seen were amazing – I felt Hiddleston got robbed during the Tonys (he was nominated for Betrayal) and Patrick Stewart was the best Macbeth I’ve ever seen, hands down.
One of the best (or at least, better) Macbeth adaptations I saw a few years ago was called Scotland, PA. It was a contemporary musical, set in a fast food restaurant in rural Pennsylvania. Very strange, but it worked, in a weird way. (It was also apparently a movie in 2001? https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0265713/)In a similar vein, a couple of years ago it felt like everyone was doing Hamlet. I saw Ruth Negga *as Hamlet* in January 2020, and she destroyed me. It was one of my favorite adaptations yet. I can’t wait to see this.