John Heffernan & Anna Maxwell Martin to Lead MACBETH at Birmingham Repertory Theatre

John Heffernan and Anna Maxwell Martin lead the company in Carrie Cracknell and Lucy Guerin's ambitious new staging of Macbeth at Birmingham Repertory Theatre from 26 - 30 January. This powerful interpretation is the first of three Shakespeare plays to be presented at The REP in 2016 to mark the 400th anniversary of his death.

Following their acclaimed collaboration on Medea at the National Theatre, Carrie Cracknell and Lucy Guerin create a new version of Shakespeare's supernatural tragedy.

When the prophecy of three witches proclaims that Macbeth is destined to become the King of Scotland, he and Lady Macbeth embark upon a murderous journey of power, treachery, paranoia, betrayal and suicide.

Beginning with Shakespeare's text, the powerful and unsettling choreography in Carrie Cracknell and Lucy Guerin's production weaves its way throughout the story, culminating in an unforgettable final act where words falter and finally give way.

John Heffernan is a prolific theatre actor whose credits include Oppenheimer (RSC/West End); Edward II, She Stoops to Conquer, Emperor and Galilean, After the Dance, The Habit of Art, (National); King Lear, The Seagull, Much Ado About Nothing, Romeo and Juliet (RSC). He can currently be seen on screen in Dickensian and Luther (BBC) and other previous television credits include Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell and Ripper Street.

Anna Maxwell Martin plays Lady Macbeth. Anna was recently seen on screen in the BBC's And Then There Were None and her other television credits include Death Comes to Pemberley and Poppy Shakespeare, for which she won a BAFTA Award for Best Actress. Her film work includes: Philomena, Becoming Jane and The Hours and her theatre credits include: Di and Viv and Rose (Hampstead); Measure for Measure (Almeida); The Female Species (Vaudeville); Cabaret (Lyric); The Entertainer, Dumb Show (Royal Court); His Dark Materials, Honour, Three Sisters, The Coast of Utopia (National Theatre) and The Little Foxes (Donmar Warehouse).

John and Anna will be joined by both dancers and actors including: Mark Ebulue, Thomasin Gulgeç, Ira Siobhan Mandela, Ana Beatriz Meireles, Prasanna Puwanarajah and Clemmie Sveaas.

Carrie Cracknell was nominated for the Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Director her production of A Doll's House in 2012. Other theatre credits include Medea and Blurred Lines (National Theatre); Birdland (Royal Court); Elektra (Young Vic, in association with Headlong); Dolls (National Theatre of Scotland); and Wozzeck (ENO) which was nominated for the Olivier Award for Best New Opera Production in 2014. Cracknell was a former Associate Director of the Young Vic and Artistic Director of the Gate Theatre from 2007 to 2012.

Lucy Guerin's choreography was previously seen on the London stage in Medea directed by Carrie Cracknell at the National Theatre. Other theatre work premiered in her native Australia includes Weather (Melbourne Festival, North American Tour, Theatre de la Ville Paris); Conversation Piece (Belvoir St Theatre, Sydney); Human Interest Story (Malthouse Theatre, Melbourne); Untrained (International Tour); Corridor (US tour); Structure and Sadness (International Tour); Love Me (Malthouse Theatre, Melbourne). Guerin has also been commissioned by Chunky Move, Dance Works Rotterdam, Ricochet (UK), Mikhail Baryshnikov's White Oak Dance Project (USA) and Lyon Opera Ballet (France) among many others. Her awards include the Sidney Myer Performing Arts Award, a New York Dance and Performance Award, six Green Room Awards, a Helpmann Award and an Australian Dance Award.

Design for Macbeth is by Lizzie Clachan with lighting design by Neil Austin and costumes by Merle Hensel.