The Magic of Shakespeare Brought to Life
CRITIC'S REVIEW
☆☆☆☆☆
“This production is a triumph for the ages, THE Macbeth, that is psychologically penetrating, and theatrically bold. With powerhouse performances, innovative staging, and relentless emotional intensity, this is Shakespeare at its most vital.”
Lyn Belvedere, Sydney Arts Guide
SHOWS
with
Josephine Mayer
Charles Mayer
David Halgren
SHAKESPEARE'S MAGIC - Spring Equinox Weekend at the Australian Standing Stones Glen Innes Highlands, Saturday 19th September 5pm Sunset
This Spring Equinox, the acclaimed national theatre troupe Come You Spirits brings you a magical weekend to remember.
Step into the ancient circle of the Australian Standing Stones as the sun sets and Shakespeare's most magical moments come to life around you. Journey through a spellbinding selection of scenes — the enchanted mischief of A Midsummer Night's Dream, the sweeping passion of Antony and Cleopatra, the star-crossed longing of Romeo and Juliet, the tempests and sorcery of The Tempest, the swirling storm of King Lear, the dark prophecy of Macbeth, and the pastoral wit of As You Like It. Woven together beneath open sky and standing stone, these timeless words take on new resonance — where language meets landscape, and Shakespeare's magic feels close enough to touch.
This experience is perfect for the whole family, so pack a picnic and savour the sensation of day and night falling into perfect balance. The equinox stirs a rare energy — a threshold moment where the veil feels thin, and transformation lingers in the air.
With consistent ★★★★★ reviews for their touring productions in the wild and in Performing Arts Centres across the county, this is a rare opportunity to catch Come You Spirits and meet the Principal cast. See for yourself why they are hailed as
"Captivating" - Sydney Morning Herald
"The best of the best" - Sydney Arts Guide
"Nourishment for the eyes, ears, nose and tongue, and offered a weight off the heart and kinship with your fellow human beings" - Arts Hub
“Come you Spirits will take you to a place just between the human and the ethereal, to demonstrate just how close we are through language and our connection to the natural world. Utterly Indistinguishable from magic"
- Theatre Travels
with
Charles Mayer as Macbeth
Josephine Mayer as Lady Macbeth & Second Witch
David Halgren as Banquo
Ciarán O'Riordan as MacDuff
Willa King as First Witch
Ella Havelka and Erica Dixon as Third Witch
with
Lighting Design and Sound by Adam Applebaum
Design by Art Director Letitia Hodgkinson
Following the 2025 season of sold-out performances, our ★★★★★ production hailed as "THE Macbeth for our times: raw, relentless, and deeply human" (Sydney Arts Guide) returns in 2026 to ignite audiences once again.
This powerful adaptation dives into the heart of Shakespeare’s most haunting work, reminding us that, even in the darkest moments, we always have a choice. Themes of ambition v destiny, power v paranoia, love v duty, and the duality of the human spirit crash together in a story that challenges us to confront our shadows and seek redemption.
This Macbeth distills the play to its essences, told through the central characters — Macbeth, Lady Macbeth, Banquo, Macduff, and The Witches. Audiences are immersed in Shakespeare’s language, dramatic tension, and ethical questions in a way that sparks analysis, discussion, and empathy. A "Captivating" (SMH) element of our production is Wiradjuri dancer Ella Havelka (The Australian Ballet, Bangarra Dance Theatre) as the Second Witch. As a passionate advocate for First Nations storytelling through dance, Ella brings a unique and powerful energy to the stage, weaving ancient wisdom with contemporary artistry, expanding the theme of "there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so."
We have added a very special one-off moonlit performance in the wild, “upon the heath” in the moon-shadow of Maquarie Lightstation. Expect full immersion as the witches emerge from the heath, the banquet draws you in, swords clash inches away. And beyond it all, the cliffs of Vaucluse drop into a dark void of limitless ocean.
As Lyn Belvedere for Sydney Arts Guide says, “This production is a triumph for the ages, THE MACBETH, that is psychologically penetrating, and theatrically bold. With powerhouse performances, innovative staging, and relentless emotional intensity, this is Shakespeare at its most vital.”
directed by Josephine Mayer
with
Othniel Mani as Othello
Charles Mayer as Iago
Charlotte Edwards as Desdemona and Roderigo
Josephine Mayer as Emilia
David Halgren as Cassio
and
Ella Havelka and Erica Dixon as Bianca
with
Lighting Design by Adam Applebaum
Costume Design by Josephine Mayer
Sound Design by Nicholas Pang & Charles Mayer
With Music by Uncle Col Lyons
3 Oct 2026 6.00pm St Albans NSW
in Diana's Barn next to The Settlers Arms
19 Nov 2026 Darling Quarter Theatre 11.00am & 7.00pm
19 Feb 2027 Goulburn Performing Arts Centre
11.00am & 7.00pm
17 Mar 2027 The Roxy Theatre, Leeton
Matinee
26 - 28 May 2027 Darling Quarter Theatre
11.00am
29 May 2027 Darling Quarter Theatre
7.00pm
We are proud to unveil a brand new production of Othello, starring new troupe member Othniel Mani (63 Globes, Gibber) opposite Charles Mayer as Iago (above), set in the transformative landscape of early colonial Australia. This adaptation reframes Shakespeare’s most searing tragedy within a world of first encounters, shifting power, and cultural collision, where love and jealousy unfold against the backdrop of devastating change.
The heart of the story sees the man Othello navigating leadership, trust, prejudice, and betrayal — whose deception and downfall echo the power struggles of the young colony. The redcoats' rivalries in camp are surrounded by timeless country where the hope of harmony weaves through the story, a vision of coexistence and the beauty of learning from ancient perspectives.
Audiences are invited to consider how Shakespeare’s exploration of race, loyalty, and justice connects with Australia’s history, and how theatre can challenge us to reckon with the fractures that still shape our society.
Performed with the raw intensity of a six-character ensemble, this new adaptation immerses audiences in Shakespeare’s language while opening pathways for deep discussion around influence, violence and human frailty.
The role of Bianca is shared between two First Nations dancers and performers — Ella Havelka (Australian Ballet, Bangarra Dance Theatre) and Erica Dixon (Naisda Dance College, Garwoeidhamin Mayan)— each bringing their own raw intensity to the stripped-back ensemble across different performances.
This is more than a retelling of a classic play — it is a transformative theatrical experience that is uniquely Australian, urgent, and profoundly human.
With consistent ★★★★★ reviews for their touring productions in the wild and in Performing Arts Centres across the country, this is a rare opportunity to catch Come You Spirits and meet the Principal cast. See for yourself why they are hailed as
"Captivating" Sydney Morning Herald
"The best of the best" Sydney Arts Guide
"Nourishment for the eyes, ears, nose and tongue, and offered a weight off the heart and kinship with your fellow human beings" Arts Hub
“Come you Spirits will take you to a place just between the human and the ethereal, to demonstrate just how close we are through language and our connection to the natural world. Utterly Indistinguishable from magic" Theatre Travels
with
Josephine Mayer as Athena
David Halgren as Jaeger
and
Charles Mayer as Dyer
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After its premiere at Tribe Ascension Festival in May, we play next in the open air in St David's Park, Hobart, Tasmania; beginning in the dark, and performing into first light, after the longest night of the year, before Dark Mofo's concluding sunrise swim. HOBART Monday 22nd June 2026. 6.00am.
Then it's on Sydney Harbour at Bradley's Head Amphitheatre over sunset on Hallowe'en. SYDNEY Saturday 31st October 2026. 6.00pm.
2027 Sees Alchemy on tour with Come you Spirits to several ancient ritual sites in Wales, Scotland and England, culminating at Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
WHAT IS IT?
A three-hander 1.5 hour narrative made out of Shakespeare's most mystical words — torn by Jo Mayer from their places across the cannon, stripped of their plots, and woven by into a journey from despair to love. It follows the ‘alchemical’ plotline uniquely common across Shakespeare's plays, of the purification of the fallen human soul through trials of inner harmonising of opposing forces in preparation for uniting with divine spirit.
Alchemy is a visceral, ceremonial piece of theatre in which three figures move through the darkness of the human condition toward something luminous. DYER is a man crushed by grief, addiction, fear and self-destruction. JAEGER is his volatile companion — ruled by lust, rage and the seduction of oblivion. ATHENA is an ethereal winged being who descends into their world: part goddess, part spirit guide, part mirror held up to the soul.
LANGUAGE
Together, they speak only in Shakespeare — and yet this is no anthology. Every line has been alchemised into something new: a single living text that moves through grief, jealousy, addiction, lust, desire, surrender and finally, love. The language of the world's greatest writer, harnessed to ask the oldest question: can a broken soul make the leap?
MOOD
Dark, sensual and deeply ceremonial, Alchemy inhabits a world of smoke and ash — hooded figures, harlequin shadows and the divine feminine ascending through a liminal dreamscape where the subconscious and the waking world blur into one, and the line between reality and imagination dissolves entirely — where healing sound frequencies move through the space, breathwork is woven into the action, and the audience is never merely watching. They are inside the alchemy itself.
From the company that critics call "utterly indistinguishable from magic" — this new work is Shakespeare as ritual, as medicine, as transformation.