Shakespeare like you’ve
never seen before
Goblin: Macbeth offers a new take on one of the Bard’s most celebrated plays
By Irwin Rapoport
March 5, 2026
Ever since Shakespeare’s Macbeth was first performed in 1606, the tragedy that blends timeless themes, addresses serious moral and ethical dilemmas, and horror/fantasy elements has inspired countless productions, be they traditional, innovative, and experimental. And between March 4 and March 22, the Centaur Theatre is presenting Goblin: Macbeth, a Spontaneous Theatre creation.
The play premiered in Calgary in 2022 and has since been performed at various venues across Canada by the original cast.
The Scottish Play’s opening scene famously features a trio of three witches, so why not bring goblins into the mix?!
Goblin: Macbeth has received widespread critical attention and industry praise for its originality, theatrical craft, and fearless reinvention of Shakespeare, having wowed audiences at the Stratford Festival, Bard on the Beach, and Tarragon Theatre.
– Centaur Theatre press release
Goblin: Macbeth begins when three mischievous goblins stumble across a copy of The Complete Works of William Shakespeare. Uncertain whether theatre is really worth their time but fascinated by a writer who seems oddly well-versed in witches, faeries, and beings like themselves, the goblins seize Centaur’s stage. With a mix of nerve and chaos, they rope an audience into witnessing their first-ever performance. Their choice? Macbeth – mainly because it’s short… and gloriously bloody.
What unfolds is Macbeth reimagined as a manic, high-energy thriller: whispered prophecies, midnight daggers, and murders committed at alarming proximity. Driven by the seductive pull of power and his wife’s ruthless ambition, Macbeth hacks his way to the crown, leaving carnage behind. Kings fall in their sleep, friends turn traitor, and the castle oozes paranoia, guilt, and blood. Severed heads parade across the stage; ghosts refuse to rest; nightmare and reality blur. As the goblins struggle to keep their production from imploding, identities tangle, scenes collapse, and the violence spirals wildly out of control. The result is a darkly comic, blood-soaked romp through Shakespeare’s most brutal tragedy – part horror show, part backstage farce, and entirely wicked fun.
Directed by Rebecca Northan, the 90-minute play starring goblins Wug, Kragva, and Moog features an original score.
Director Rebecca Northan speaks about the origins of the production and how it all came together in the Q&A below:
WM: What were the inspirations for this production, and how did you put it together?
Northan: We have always loved Shakespeare, but over time, we have experienced a certain degree of frustration when it comes to the more famous roles in the canon. When a theatre company announces it is doing Hamlet, King Lear, or Macbeth, the immediate question is, “Who is playing the lead?” We wondered what would happen if you had no idea who was playing any of the parts. Would the audience hear the play differently?
We are also all mask performers and improvisers. When a dear colleague showed us the website for Composite FX (the mask company that is also famous for making the White Walker masks for Game of Thrones), we knew immediately that these creatures MUST do Shakespeare!
It would be nine years between having the idea and finally stepping into the rehearsal hall – mostly because we could not afford the masks. Lucky for us, a Spontaneous Theatre patron and super fan got wind of our dreams and offered to sponsor the masks!
The opportunity to put on Goblin: Macbeth came about because The Shakespeare Company in Calgary lost a booking of Macbeth Muet (by the Quebecois company, La Fille Du Laitier) due to COVID. The artistic director was lamenting the loss, and Rebecca said, “Good thing you’re friends with improvisers!” Goblin: Macbeth was an emergency replacement, based on an idea that had been brewing for almost a decade.
WM: How did your knowledge of Shakespeare help to shape the play?
Northan: We adore Shakespeare and have each worked on numerous ‘serious’ productions, and still, we struggle to understand Shakespeare sometimes! Macbeth is a play that Rebecca had already directed twice and loved deeply. Bruce had toured elementary schools, doing Macbeth artist residencies. We came to the table with a deep understanding of the play as Shakespeare wrote it, which allowed us to also know exactly which parts we wanted to make fun of, or clarify, or streamline so that audiences would better understand and enjoy the story. We challenged ourselves to ‘earn the right to make fun of Shakespeare’ by being as well-read and virtuosic as possible.
WM: What are the keys to writing a comedic play, and how to maintain the pace?
Northan: All Spontaneous Theatre shows are created on our feet, through improvisation married with text. We ask lots of questions. “What if we tried ‘xyz’?”, or “What is the point of this?” Then we play! We try to make each other laugh. We look for ways to communicate clearly with as few words as possible. We love to misbehave and to risk failure. A comedic play is a piece of music, so we are always very aware of tempo, rhythm, silence, and interplay with the audience. Really listening to the audience and responding to them is key.
WM: What is the key to comedic roles? How do you keep the themes and performances fresh?
Northan: The Goblins themselves take care of this – they are always in the driver’s seat. Mask work facilitates a kind of presence that is somehow more charged, more immediate, more aware. The Goblins know the play, they know the words, they know the story… and they have very short attention spans, and a lot of confusion and questions about Shakespeare, about theatre itself, and about humans. There is a lot of room for improvisation and surprise in each performance.
WM: Who is behind the masks for the run at the Centaur?
Northan: This is a question we prefer to avoid answering whenever possible. Obviously, this information is available if one goes digging for it. But our hope is that people accept the Goblins as the creatures they are and completely disregard who might be in the mask. As the popularity of the Goblins grows, and the ‘Goblin Empire’ expands more and more, Canadian artists are taking a turn in the masks.
Images: courtesy of Spontaneous Theatre
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Irwin Rapoport is a freelance journalist and community advocate from Westmount with bachelor’s degrees in History and Political Science from Concordia University. He writes extensively on local politics, education, and environmental issues, and promotes informed public discourse and democracy through his writing and activism.
