Met Opera 2026-27: Macbeth

Phoenix Picturehouse is screening Verdi's Macbeth on Tuesday 20 October, as part of The Met: Live in HD series that brings live performances from the Metropolitan Opera in New York to cinema screens. It's a double-session day, with screenings at 12.00 noon and 6.00 pm, so you can catch it over lunch or in the evening.

Verdi's take on Shakespeare's play follows a scheming couple determined to seize power at any cost, and whose ruinous ambition ends up damning them both. Quinn Kelsey returns as the Scottish king, haunted by the ghosts of his murderous ascent to the throne, opposite Lise Davidsen as the power-mad Lady Macbeth. Davidsen is billed as the world's reigning dramatic soprano, and the two carry the bulk of the drama. Met Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin takes the podium, and the production comes from Louisa Proske, a young director making waves around the world. Rounding out the cast are tenor Freddie De Tommaso as the heroic Macduff and bass-baritone Ryan Speedo Green as Macbeth's friend-turned-victim Banquo.

It's a heavy cast for a heavy story. The whole thing is part of the Met's 2026-27 season, and because it's a Live in HD screening, you're seeing the house's live performance rather than a separate film production. If you're not usually one for the opera, this is a decent way in: you get the full scale of the Met's production from a cinema seat in Oxford, with the close-ups and sound mix that a live house doesn't always give you.

Screenings are at Phoenix Picturehouse, 57 Walton Street, OX2 6AE, on Tuesday 20 October at 12.00 noon and 6.00 pm.