Breeze Robertson reviews Macbeth, presented by the Royal New Zealand Ballet, choreographed by Alice Topp, with music by Christopher Gordon, at the Isaac Theatre Royal, Wednesday 18 March 2026.
Bravo RNZB, Macbeth the contemporary ballet was a courageous concept, brilliantly executed.
With social media influencers instead of witches, boardroom politics instead of royal intrigues, and a feast of original and surprising images, Macbeth reminded its audience that a great ballet can push the boundary of the form and challenge the supremacy of the old favourites.
Talented dancers, brilliant choreography, a gorgeous set, fresh ideas and a contemporary music score made RNZB’s Macbeth a truly exciting performance.
In the opening scene we see three social media influencers (Cadence Barrack, Gretchen Steimle and Zacharie Dun), cackling like witches but preening constantly for phones instead of stirring cauldrons, and feeding Macbeth their dastardly predictions. I would have liked their acting to build more menacingly, but they started at high pitch and to their credit they maintained this energy the entire production – and even through the curtain call.
Our first impressions of Macbeth (Jordan Sawtell) were at the boardtable, where suited dancers challenged, persuaded and won arguments through movement around and on the table. Macbeth was in his element, a promising, confident politician with a bright future.
Lady Macbeth’s entrance elevated the production. She appeared on a mezzanine relaxing in a claw foot bath tub. Finishing her bath and slipping on a silky nightgown, she descended the stairs to engage Macbeth in a smoking hot pas des deux where the influencers’ prediction (that Macbeth will lead the country) clearly put fire in her belly. The role was danced by Jennifer Ulloa on the night we attended, and her performance was an incredibly powerful and sensual highlight of the evening. With a little more muscle on her than your average ballet dancer, Ulloa was strong, sexy and commanding in her presence – you can see why poor Macbeth could not resist her wife’s ultimately ruinous ambitions!
Luscious moving panels of a metallic pressed tin pattern defined the walls of the set. These supported fantastic scenes of a dinner celebration (where Duncan is poisoned and Malcolm accused), a pool room bar (where Banquo is killed in a brawl) and the lavish feast at the murderous Macbeths (where the ghost of Duncan appears from the centre of the table to pursue poor Macbeth around the room – the guests record Macbeth’s diminishing sanity on their phones).
The most memorable scene for me was Lady Macbeth, standing at her bath, running a razor over her shapely leg. This highly relatable female chore of shaving one’s legs was shocking to see in a ballet, and made me so proud of RNZB for their courage and for backing choreographer Alice Todd all the way. The image was also suitably foreboding in the context of Lady Macbeth’s spiralling demise; in fact, she drew blood, which sent her further into despair. Next she stepped into the bath, grabbed a handy bottle of red wine, poured it over herself and collapsed as the bath turned red with clever lighting. I was not sure of the exact cause of death being portrayed, but it was certainly the most thrilling moment I have seen on a stage in a long time, followed closely – for different reasons – by her husband’s final grisly end.
Poor Macbeth, a wreck of his former self, attempted to mount a slope (a metallic panel) to meet his fate, was stabbed, and slid back down, leaving a substantial smear of his own blood as he went. I am sure the Bard would have appreciated that visceral and dramatic ending (so unlike how traditional ballets do death).
The night I attended, Macbeth was danced beautifully by Jordan Sawtell, who never stopped lifting Lady Macbeth and the other dancers in untold creative ways for the entire production. The strength, energy and acting he brought to his role was incredible, consistent and a joy to watch. The entire cast was strong and as capable I would argue as any company you will see today. Forget the All Blacks, we should be immensely proud of our RNZB.
Any criticisms were minor: I’m not sure I would call the music ‘heavy metal’ but it was certainly very contemporary and energetic. The suit jackets obscured some of the movement at times – perhaps they could have been removed. I think the choreography could have pushed the contemporary nature of this production even more and lost some of the balletic, narrative hand gestures for example, but that is a small quibble in an otherwise original feat of choreography that excelled from ensemble pieces to solos. The experience doesn’t come cheap ($115, for not even the best seats), and I worry this will reinforce ballet’s elite status and limit attendance. However, when you see the set, the cast, just the entire production, the credit-card-melting cost is forgiven.
RNZB, I hope your regular ballet goers were not too confronted by your Macbeth, because I think this is the future of ballet, particularly for those of us who will never watch the Nutcracker again, but who long to experience really excellent dance that is genre-busting and innovative. I can’t wait to see what this company does for their next contemporary work.
Macbeth ran in Christchurch from 18 – 21 March 2026.
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