Bloody marvellous! No, I am not swearing but pointing out that Shakespeare's tale of treachery being performed at the West Yorkshire Playhouse this month is one of the bloodiest yet finest productions I have seen for a long time. Ian Brown, director of the play, and also Chief Executive at the Playhouse, has done a marvellous job from both an artistic and technical point of view following the success of his productions of Twelfth Night', Comedy of Errors' and Hamlet' at West Yorkshire Playhouse over recent years.

Macbeth' is a riveting tragedy filled with greed, madness, blood-lust, the supernatural and evil. It is a play that has often been steeped in theatrical superstition and some actors will not even mention the name of the play, instead referring to it as The Scottish Play' for fear of something happening to them.

David Westhead, who has appeared in many television and cinema productions plays the title role of Macbeth, and is superb in the part.

His wife, Lady Macbeth is equally well played by Michelle Fairley, with Anthony Byrne as Macduff. I was also very impressed with Andy Hockley who initially plays the part of Duncan, King of Scotland who is murdered early on in the play but then also takes on the role of Porter whom I found to be a highly amusing character in what is overall a very dark story.

As well as the actors taking the plaudits, I feel that Ruari Murchison, the designer, must also take much credit from this superb production.

This is a play where almost all the events take place at night, and often in dark and murky places. The set menacingly reflects that. Swirling mists, tolling bells, blood soaked tunics and splattered faces all conjure up this dark, brooding and menacing image that so wonderfully comes over in Shakespeare's words as well.

This blasted heath' fittingly sums up the design of the blackened rough volcanic-like surface on which the actors play out this bloody tragedy.

This is a great production, well worth seeing, and although it is over 400 years since our Will' wrote it, this production still has the power to shock its audiences.