Acting Legend To Play Bloodthirsty Tyrant Macbeth

One of New Zealand’s most experienced and prolific stage and screen actors Stephen Lovatt will lead the bloody coup as the brave Scottish general, Macbeth, in a star-studded production of Shakespeare’s haunting and timeless tragedy at Pop-up Globe this summer.

Producers today announce that Lovatt (Resolve, Ash v Evil Dead, The Making of The Mob, Top of the Lake) will join former Shortland St star Amanda Billing as Lady Macbeth – considered to be Shakespeare’s most famous and frightening female character.

Macbeth opens at Pop-up Globe in Shakespeare Gardens, Ellerslie Racecourse, Auckland, on 8 Februarywith sessions selling extremely quickly. The schools’ programme has already sold out so Pop-up Globe fans are urged to act without delay in securing their tickets to this thrilling play, directed by Tom Mallaburn who delivered us last year’s knock out production of As You Like It. Tickets from Eventfinda.

A recipient of the Shakespeare’s Globe International Fellowship, Lovatt has also been honoured with titles of Best Actor for his work as Septimus Hodge in Aradia, Male Performance of the Year in When The Rain Stops Falling, the Auckland Theatre Award for Excellence in Performance. Also dubbed Australia's brainiest Neighbour during his reign as bar owner Max Hoyland in the long-running soap, Lovatt is constantly in demand and consistently cast in leading roles for USA productions, most recently cast as series lead in as Pompeii in Roman Empire 2 and as episode lead Sgt Wylie in Murder Is Forever – two US productions that shot in Auckland.

Lovatt was last seen on stage in Auckland as Victor Bellavicta in Rob Tapert’s production of Pleasuredome. In 2017 he toured through New Zealand in Gareth Davies’ Everest Untold, performed the titular role in The Court theatre production of Uncle Vanya, and was last seen on New Zealand television in the highest rating New Zealand drama of 2017 Resolve, produced by Philly de Lacey. After this production of Macbeth, Stephen will be working in the Auckland Theatre Company production of George Bernard Shaw’s Mrs Warren’s Profession. Following this he looks forward to touring NZ in his solo show Sweet Remarkables.

Right now, he’s preparing for bloody battle on the 360 degree stage at Pop-up Globe. Macbeth receives a prophecy from a trio of witches that one day he will become King of Scotland. Consumed by ambition and spurred to action by his wife, Macbeth murders King Duncan and takes the Scottish throne for himself.

He is then wracked with guilt and paranoia. Forced to commit more and more murders to protect himself from enmity and suspicion, he soon becomes a tyrannical ruler. The bloodbath and consequent civil war swiftly take Macbeth and Lady Macbeth into the realms of madness and death.

The cast also features Jess Holly-Bates (Shortland Street, Eve Reston; Nothing Trivial, Shay); and Romy Hooper (Shortland Street, Gemma Jansen; Nothing Trivial, Courtney) as witches; Greg Johnson (The End of the Golden Weather, Shortland Street, Outrageous Fortune and Go Girls) as Duncan; and Matu Ngaropo (The Lion King - Australian Tour, The Māori Troilus and Cressida - International Festival of the Arts /Globe Theatre London) as Macduff.

Thousands of actors from all over the world applied to be part of this prestigious theatre company.
This summer, join us on an adventure to discover the lost secrets of the greatest theatre in history, Shakespeare’s theatre, the second Globe.

Season 3 features five plays Macbeth, A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Merchant of Venice, Julius Caesar and The Comedy of Errors, as well as better special effects, more laughter, more battles and blood. More elaborate sets and costumes. More productions. And of course, more of the storytelling of Shakespeare’s masterworks.

This isn’t dusty old Shakespeare. This is bawdy, hilarious, brutal and bloodsoaked.

About Pop-up Globe
Pop-up Globe aims to rediscover and bring back to life the extraordinary experience of Shakespeare’s own audiences through his own work performed in the space and style his own company did.

Pop-up Globe is a three-storey, 16-sided, 900-person capacity theatre. It unites cutting-edge scaffold technology with a 400-year-old design to transport audiences back in time. No matter where they sit or stand in the theatre, audience members are never more than 15 metres from the heart of the action on stage. Sometimes they’ll even find themselves in the play.

A Midsummer Night's Dream - only 6 evening performances left in January
Justly regarded as Shakespeare's comic masterpiece, A Midsummer Night's Dream enchants audiences with a brilliant mix of hilarious comedy and beautiful poetry. See Pop-up Globe's all-male Buckingham's Company in beautiful bespoke costumes transport you to an enchanted world where anything is possible and nothing is what it seems.
Directed by Dr Miles Gregory

Julius Caesar - only 11 evening performances in whole season
In a world where ambitious politicians vie for the ultimate prize, sometimes the only way to stop your rival is by revolution. But what is the price of revolt? Shining a mirror on dirty politics, Pop-up Globe's gender-reversed Pembroke's Company draws back the veil to show the darkness within in the gripping tragedy of Julius Caesar.
Directed by Rita Stone

The Merchant of Venice - only 4 evening performances left in January
Friendship, forbidden love, cunning disguises and ancient rivalry build to a nail-biting conclusion in Shakespeare's most controversial comedy, The Merchant of Venice. Witness Pop-up Globe's all-male Buckingham's Company take on this powerful and gripping drama.
Directed by David Lawrence

Macbeth - opens 8 February
A haunting and timeless tragedy that explores the darkest corners of the human mind set in a world where the supernatural is real and the quickest way to the top is by murder. Macbeth, presented by Pop-up Globe's mixed Southampton's Company sees darkness, chaos and conflict unfold.
Directed by Tom Mallaburn

The Comedy of Errors - opens 22 February
Presented by Pop-up Globe's mixed Southampton's Company, Shakespeare's most hilarious farce The Comedy of Errors brings together two sets of twins in a wild romp. See chaotic confusion and unlikely plot twists come together in a side-splitting finale that cannot be missed.
Directed by Dr Miles Gregory

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