GEARING up for the start of its new summer season of productions is the Royal Shakespeare Theatre.

First up at the Stratford-upon-Avon venue will be The Duchess of Malfi at the Swan from March 4 and then the following week sees the much heralded arrival of Macbeth.

Macbeth - which opens on March 13 and runs to September 22 is Shakespeare’s dark tragedy of power and revenge.

Making his RSC debut will be Christopher Ecdcleston in the title role of the bloody king in this contemporary psychological thriller.

His recent work includes the television series Safe House and The A Word, and Antigone at the National Theatre in 2012.

He is joined by Niamh Cusack as Lady Macbeth. Niamh was last at the RSC just over 20 years ago. That was in 1996 as Rosalind in As You Like It .

Her recent theatre work includes The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time at the National Theatre/West End, and The Winter’s Tale at Shakespeare’s Globe.

John Webster’s macabre tragedy, The Duchess of Malfi, was written in the early 1600s. It is is loosely based on events that occurred between about 1508 and 1513.

In an attempt to prevent the fiercely independent Duchess from marrying the man she loves, her brutally corrupt brothers go on a disturbing quest to destroy her. Remarkable for its inventive and grotesque violence, yet full of dark humour, this violent revenge tragedy asks how anyone can survive in a world where masculinity has become toxic.

This production opens on March 1 and continues until August 4.