From the Dramaturg: Dunsinane: What You Need To Know

From the Dramaturg

DUNSINANE: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

• Dunsinane is an imagined sequel to William Shakespeare’s play Macbeth. • Like Macbeth, Dunsinane is set in 11th century Scotland. • England is invading Scotland to install Malcolm on the Scottish throne. Malcolm is Scottish and had previously fled to England to escape Macbeth’s tyranny. • English soldiers wear RED, Scottish soldiers wear BLUE, the colors corresponding to their respective flags. • Macbeth is referred to in our play as “the tyrant.” (In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, he murders his way to the throne of Scotland and becomes increasingly bloody and paranoid.) He appears in our play as the body of the dead king. • Dunsinane castle is the seat of power in Scotland at this time. Macbeth was king here, and at the end of Shakespeare’s play he is defeated and killed here.

The ruins of Dunsinane castle today.

Photograph by Joe Dorward, 2006, Wikipedia, Public Domain.