arranged for violin, viola, cello, double bass, clarinet, accordeon, flute and trombone 

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duration 75 minutes 

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 A festive banquet slowly unravels into a creeping nightmare in this unsettling adaptation of Giuseppe Verdi’s Macbeth. What begins as celebration turns ominous as the darker forces beneath the surface are revealed.

In this reimagining, the Macbeths leave a child behind for dead. Echoing Verdi’s opera—where the spirit of the murdered Banquo returns to haunt his killers—a group of mysterious children appears, confronting the Macbeths and pledging revenge. Their presence transforms the banquet into a nightmarish ritual, in which the adult world’s violence and hypocrisy are mirrored back with unsettling clarity.

As the children reclaim power, the performance raises urgent questions about anger, fear, and fury. Where do evil and cruelty take root? What does it truly mean to seek revenge? And how can one navigate a world that so often reveals itself as dishonest, threatening, and dark? Through this haunting lens, Macbeth becomes not only a tale of ambition and guilt, but a reflection on responsibility, conscience, and the cost of violence passed from one generation to the next.

  

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Libretto and stage direction: Tom Goossens 

Scenography: Conrad Willems 

Costumes: Miet Van Stichel 

Conductor: Michiel Delanghe 

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Banket was commissioned by Opera Ballet Flanders and was first performed on March 8 2019 at Opera Gent (Belgium). More info: https://www.operaballet.be/nl/programma/seizoen-2018-2019/banket-9