Manawatū Summer Shakespeare And Simple Truth Theatre Present: Macbeth Keeping Shakespeare Accessible To All

Manawatū Summer Shakespeare will open their 23rd annual production in February with a riveting and explosive retelling of one of Shakespeare’s most haunting tragedies, Macbeth.

The story of one man’s violent rise to power and of his even more violent downfall, this crowd favourite promises a thrilling encounter with witches, battles, ghosts, tyranny and rebellion with a modern twist.

“It’s a play about power, tyranny, and the consequences of betrayal. It’s about making choices, and what we can do when power runs mad.” – Director, Rachel Lenart

The cast stars 23 local performers who began rehearsal in early November under the vision of Lenart and features Summer Shakespeare favourites Sam Wyss and Rhian Firmin in the titular roles of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. Many of the cast from 2025’s record breaking The Tempest return to brighten the stage alongside new faces.

The project fuses local talent with support and training from national theatre legends. The cast have had the opportunity to workshop with Trick of the Light Theatre’s Ralph McCubbin Howell and learn fight choreography through intensives and direction from Rollicking Entertainment’s David Ladderman. The show features an epic original sound design from Palmy’s own Dave Boyack and multi award winner Pierce Barber returns to light up the gardens in his eleventh year with Summer Shakespeare.

For the past 22 years the production has had a koha entry policy. This year, due to a budget shortfall caused by a competitive funding landscape, the team behind Manawatū Summer Shakespeare have launched a Givealittle campaign and are asking for donations to help cover costs to keep things this way.

“Along with the rest of our sector and community, we are feeling the pinch. With so many wildly valuable projects vying for extremely limited funds, and despite the extremely generous support of our magnificent sponsors, we find ourselves entering 2026, once again on the brink of viability” said Lenart.

“We are facing external pressure to introduce a ticket price; however, we believe that Shakespeare is for everyone and that by creating large scale, high quality work and delivering it for koha entry, we eliminate financial barriers to artistic engagement and can deliver the production our community deserves. Help keep us Koha, Palmy.”

The company is hoping to raise $10,000 in total, to be spent across production expenses including set materials, costumes and marketing.

This year’s Macbeth is set to be the team’s most ambitious project yet. Fusing elements of Scottish punk and contemporary folk, where refined military order clashes with gauche glamour for a tense, atmospheric thriller of ambition, corruption, suspicion and devastation.

“What’s not cool about Macbeth? Manawatū Summer Shakespeare is outdoor theatre at its absolute finest. We have an incredibly strong community and every year we challenge ourselves to level up and create something that’s really quite magical” - Rhian Firmin

From the award-winning creative team behind 2025’s hit The Tempest and 2024’s colourful chaotic caper Much Ado About Nothing, Macbeth will bring leather and lace, glamour and grace to the trees of the Arboretum turned Scottish wilds, in a timeless tale about ambition and power this February.

See what some of last year’s audience members had to say about Manawatū Summer Shakespeare.

“This is such a special event that Palmy is known for! It makes me proud to live here and I know people travel to come.”

“SuSha is a significant contribution to the Manawatū… it helps Palmerston North stand out and brings people together in the most stunning locations.”

“MSS is one of the amazing artistic treasures of Palmerston North, and losing it would be devastating.”

© Scoop Media