Crown of Blood is a striking reimagining of Shakespeare’s Macbeth, set in nineteenth-century Yorubaland and rooted in West African history, mythology and cultural tradition. This bold new production brings together the familiar rhythms of Shakespeare’s tragedy with the richness of Yoruba storytelling, creating a vivid, atmospheric retelling that is both timeless and completely new.
The story centres on General Aderemi, a celebrated warrior returning from battle with honour and the admiration of his people. When an oracle delivers a prophecy foretelling his rise to the throne, Aderemi is thrust into a dangerous struggle between fate, ambition and loyalty. Encouraged by his wife Oyebisi, he begins a ruthless pursuit of power that propels him into a world of political intrigue, spiritual reckoning and violent consequence.
The production explores themes of leadership, destiny, responsibility and the weight of ancestral legacy. Through music, movement and ritual, audiences are transported into a world where royal courts, warriors and spirits intertwine, and where power is never obtained without sacrifice. The staging draws deeply on Yoruba cultural aesthetics, offering a fresh and authentic lens through which this classic tale of ambition and downfall can be understood.
Written by the award-winning playwright Oladipo Agboluaje and directed by Mojisola Kareem, Crown of Blood is created by Utopia Theatre in collaboration with Sheffield Theatres. Renowned for their work championing African performance traditions, the company brings a distinctive theatrical language to this production, combining dramatic storytelling with live music and visual spectacle.
The result is a gripping, emotionally charged adaptation that reclaims a classic text and situates it within a Black historical framework — illuminating the universality of Shakespeare’s themes while grounding them in a new cultural reality. Rich, resonant and culturally immersive, Crown of Blood invites audiences to rethink what power means, who holds it, and what the cost of claiming it can be.
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