William Davenant's operatic Macbeth 1664
Contents Introduction An operatic Macbeth Biographical References ------------------- Sir William Davenant’s 1664 adaptation of Macbeth transformed Shakespeare's dark tragedy into a lavish, music-filled Restoration spectacle. He heavily altered the text, expanded the role of the singing witches, cut several minor characters, and featured movable scenery, making it a major theatrical hit. (Poltrack 2018) 1. Introduction During July 2026 the present writer encountered at his local library an elderly woman having difficulty in seeking to obtain a digital copy of an operatic script based on a Shakespeare play and presented in London during 1664. Having viewed a published copy some decades earlier at the library of the Australian National University, Canberra, she informed the librarian that that copy had subsequently been destroyed in a flood. Remote access to the script in the National Library of Australia was now the goal. It is unclear whether either libr...
