Shakespeare’s Macbeth, full of witches, ghosts, hallucinations, a power-hungry potentate, murders and suicides, would, you would think, be relatively easy to transform into a ballet.

But this is choreographer Alice Topp’s creation, and she likes a challenge – the challenge here being to translate Macbeth into a modern political setting. It’s Topp at her best, diving headfirst into a brilliant exposé of human frailty and hubris, against which all Roman Caesars were warned as the laurel-leaf crown descended upon their heads.

Sad that no such warning existed for Macbeth – or does now, come to think of it. And, of course, Macbeth had the added pressure of a wife who was as ambitious as he was, rather like Cherie Blair, wife of former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, whom Topp’s Macbeth, Charles Westwood, uncannily resembles.

Macbeth: Charles Dashwood (centre). Photo © Sergey Pevnev

Topp’s choreography is a wonderful assault on the senses; Dashwood and Alexa Tuzil as Lady Macbeth are outstanding, and this opening night was one of those rare evenings in a theatrical venue when, from the very start, you find yourself sitting forward in surprise and delight, sensing something magical...