Macbeth, The Barbican

If you see one production of Macbeth this year, make it Polly Findlay’s Royal Shakespeare Company version, which will transfer to the Barbican Theatre after opening in Stratford-Upon-Avon.

Shakespeare's notoriously difficult to stage tragedy has recently been tackled in the Royal Opera House’s production of Verdi’s Macbeth, and most notably the National Theatre's ★★★★★ version, starring Anne Marie-Duff and Rory Kinnear.

Fingers cross this RSC Macbeth, which has just opened at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, will do better justice to The Scottish Play. With Findlay's talent for both contemporary and classic drama, we are hoping for a production that highlights the contemporary resonance of the politics and ambition, without losing the atmosphere and poetry of Shakespeare's text.

Christopher Eccleston, perhaps best known for his role as the ninth Doctor in Doctor Who, will make his RSC debut as Macbeth, opposite stage regular Niamh Cusack as Lady Macbeth.