Macbeth

Smock Alley Theatre, 1662

Smock Alley Theatre, 1662, Ireland

Critically-acclaimed VOLTA THEATRE COMPANY returns to Smock Alley with a new production of Shakespeare’s gripping tale of murder, totalitarianism and how a person loses their soul. In a politically unstable world, where witchcraft and satanic cults chip away at the status quo, a man temperamentally unsuited to kingship seizes the crown by violent means. Corrupted by absolute power, he becomes vengeful, paranoid and completely unhinged in his bid to establish a dynasty bloodline. Shakespeare’s timeless story about the horrors that lie in wait beyond societal breakdown has non-stop action, suspense, terror, and some of the mightiest language ever penned. Warnings: Violence WRITTEN BY William Shakespeare DIRECTED BY Norah McGettigan MUSICAL DIRECTOR Sinead Murphy LIGHTING DESIGN BY Colin Doran SOUND DESIGN BY Denis Clohessy SET DESIGN BY Chrysi Chatziveliou COSTUME DESIGN BY Jenny Roddy VIDEO DIRECTOR David Crann VIDEO EDITOR Elton Mullaly DRAMATURG Bridget Hourican FIGHT INSTRUCTOR Ciaran O'Grady CAST Witch/Porter/Doctor - Sinead Murphy Witch/Fleance - Gillian Roberts Duncan/First Murderer - Jim Roche Malcolm/Second Murderer - Myles Feerick Ross/Young Siward - Liam Bixby Macbeth - Liam Hourican Banquo/Siward - Ollie Flitcroft Lady Macbeth - Lesley Conroy Macduff - Darragh Shannon PREVIEW / MATINEE TICKETS €20 TICKETS €24 | €20 (student/OAP/unemployed) RUNNING TIME 1hr 30 mins no interval ABOUT THE COMPANY VOLTA is a new company with a mission to bring high quality productions of classical works to a wide audience. It was founded in 2023 by Liam Hourican and Jim Roche, long-time collaborators in sketch comedy for Channel 4, RTE and The Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and has a residency at the National Opera House, where it has staged sold-out runs of Hamlet (2024) and Macbeth (2025). It’s critically acclaimed adaptations of Dubliners (The James Joyce Centre, Bewleys Café Theatre), Telemachus at the Martello Tower and Cyclops at the Lexicon Studio will be returning for the Bloomsday Festival 2026. Liam Hourican is a sketch comedian and Shakespearean actor/director. He was part of Shakespeare’s Globe company under Mark Rylance, appearing in Julius Caesar and Antony and Cleopatra (1999), then Troilus and Cressida with the Oxford Stage Company (2000). In Ireland, he played Oliver in As You Like It and Malvolio in Twelfth Night (Classic Stage Ireland), before joining Alan Stanford’s Second Age for three seasons, playing Rodrigo in Othello, Graziano in Merchant of Venice and Edmund in King Lear. As an impressionist and comedian, he has appeared in numerous Sketch shows and sitcoms, including Very Important People for Channel 4, the Savage Eye (RTE), Glitchy (ITV 2), Sketchy (BBC Northern Ireland), The IT Crowd (Channel 4), Women on the Verge (RTE/Channel 4), Bridget and Eamon (RTE 2), Timewasters (ITV) and Tracey Breaks the News (BBC One). He is best known for playing Gordon Ramsay over the three series of Murder in Successville, the cult BBC Three hit, now on Netflix and Solti in Kevin Allen’s La Cha Cha, available on Amazon Prime. He will be appearing in the new Lisa McGee (Derry Girls) comedy drama How To Get to Heaven from Belfast on Netflix in February. Jim Roche is an actor and director based in Dublin. He recently directed and featured in ‘A Face in The Crowd’, a mental health awareness testimony theatre piece which toured throughout Ireland. His recent work in Television includes Normal People (directed by Lenny Abramson (BBC), Harry Wild (Acorn TV) Blood 2 (Virgin Media) Vikings (History Channel), Damo and Ivor, Fair City, Killinaskully, The Mario Rosenstock Show, Dead Still (RTE), The Tudors (Showtime) and iCandy (Channel 4). Theatre credits include 'Basil Hallward' in Wonderland Production's play 'THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GREY',Oscar Wilde in ‘Motion of the Heart’ (Ensemble Ex – Irish National Tour). Numerous roles in ‘I, Keano’ (Irish National Tour) 'John Joe' in "THE ANTI-SOCIAL NETWORK" (Edinburgh Fringe and tour), 'Dempsey' in "THE JUDGES HOUSE" (Purple Heart), 'Algernon' in "THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST" (Irish Tour) and 'Arthur Glumm' in "ANIMUS" (Dublin Fringe). Film credits include ‘The Last Duel’ directed by Ridley Scott, ‘Lassie’ (Universal Pictures), Dark Lies The Island (Irish Film Board) and ‘When Harvey met Bob’ (BBC). He also plays the lead in the award winning music video ‘Paul’ for the Irish indie rock group GirlBand. REVIEWS FOR VOLTA "The little company with big ambitions called Volta… hit the dramatic nail on the head every time" - David Nice, The Arts Desk "A perfect hour’s entertainment…" - KATY HAYES, Irish Independent "Superbly articulated performances…" - CHRIS O’ROURKE The Arts Review