Macbeth is king of the castle as 11,000 watch Stafford show

Macbeth, performed at Stafford Castle last month, was attended by 10,988 people over two weeks – nearly 3,000 more than last year’s production of The Tempest and the highest attendance since Romeo and Juliet in 2005, which was seen by 10,091 people.

The show opened to a near capacity audience and smashed the total figure of the previous four Stafford Festival Shakespeare productions with a week of performances remaining.

Spokesman Thomas Waldron said: “What an incredible six weeks it has been. It is hard to believe that we only began rehearsals for the show early last month.

“Certainly, we have been blessed with some exceptionally sunny weather these last few weeks – which poses its own challenges for everyone working on site at Stafford Castle – and thanks must go to our wonderful cast and crew for their tireless efforts.

“On behalf of the creative team and all of us at Stafford Festival Shakespeare I would also like to extend our gratitude to the fabulous audiences who came to see the show and who helped make the production one of our most successful on record.

“To have nearly 11,000 people make the trip up to the castle is truly astounding and we’ve been completely bowled over by the positive reaction.

“However, we are not resting on our laurels.

"Plans are already in the works for next year’s show and we will no doubt be making an announcement in the coming month or two about the title for 2019.”

This year’s production was the 28th annual Stafford Festival Shakespeare show produced by Stafford Gatehouse Theatre on behalf of Freedom and Leisure, working in partnership with Stafford Borough Council.

It received critical acclaim, including a five-star review from The Stage.