Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
Arts & Entertainment
Alan Cumming To Star In One-Man <em>Macbeth</em>
By
Jamie Feldmar
Published Nov 29, 2011
Modified Nov 29, 2011
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
Alan Cumming's website
By
Jamie Feldmar
Published Nov 29, 2011
Modified Nov 29, 2011
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Alan Cumming, Scottish native and Shakespeare aficionado, is going back to his roots next year in a big way, announcing that he's undertaking a one-man production of Macbeth in which he will play all the parts. Double, double toil and trouble for the original "Scottish play," indeed!
Cumming will debut the play in Scotland this summer before moving to Lincoln Center for a sure-to-sell-out limited engagement. "I have been obsessed with the play all my life," he said in a recent interview. "It was the first Shakespeare I was in... Speaking to [co-director] John Tiffany in New York earlier this year, I had this idea I wanted to swap the roles of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, because there are so many things about gender, I thought it would be a really exciting idea to flip that. So we did this reading like that, in New York, and [co-director] Andy Goldberg had this idea I should just play all the parts."
We have little doubt that the fantastically talented (and amusingly flamboyant) Cummings has the chops to pull this off, but the big question is: how many costume changes can one man endure? Find out for yourself when the show comes to town July 5th through July 14th as part of the Lincoln Center Festival. And in case you've never had the chance to catch Cumming's native Scottish accent, here he is discussing how he came to love Shakespeare as a wee lad.
Tagged
alan cumming
lincoln center
macbeth
play
shakespeare
theater
Jamie Feldmar
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE arts-entertainment
A visit to Art of Play, the Brooklyn store in an animatronic bird beef with Kelly Clarkson
"Kelly Clarkson has put us in danger," says the co-owner of Art of Play.
By
Sonia Rao
Published Oct 13, 2026 at 3:17 p.m. ET
The hottest way to show you're an authentic New Yorker is… riding a Citi Bike?
Thanks to Dua Lipa, Kim Kardashian, Timothée Chalamet and more, the rideshare program is having a moment.
By
Lindsay Lee Wallace
Arts & Entertainment
The hottest way to show you're an authentic New Yorker is… riding a Citi Bike?
Thanks to Dua Lipa, Kim Kardashian, Timothée Chalamet and more, the rideshare program is having a moment.
By
Lindsay Lee Wallace
Is NYC’s hottest attraction the free observation deck at 1 Centre Street?
By
James Ramsay
What happens when NYC kids take lessons in rock music? Really good bands.
By
Jayson Greene
Inside a photographer's journey to visit every neighborhood in New York City
By
Sonia Rao
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .