A Rebuilt Lisbon Theatre Returns With Shakespeare’s Macbeth

Lisbon’s Teatro Nacional D. Maria II will welcome audiences again on 18 September after a three-year closure for renovation. The reopening production is William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, directed and translated by Pedro Penim, the theatre’s artistic director, and it runs until 31 October in the Sala Garrett.

The production returns to the stage where Macbeth was being performed on 2 December 1964, when a fire left the theatre in ruins. According to the theatre’s announcement, Penim’s staging intertwines that destructive blaze with the ambition that consumes the play’s central couple, in a contemporary approach reflecting on memory, rebirth and the blurring of reality and illusion.

The cast includes Ana Coimbra, Ana Tang, Bárbara Branco, Bernardo de Lacerda, Hugo van der Ding, João Grosso, José Neves, José Raposo, June João, Sandro Feliciano, Stela and Vítor Silva Costa. Performances are in Portuguese, with English subtitles on Saturdays. Specific accessible performances on 11 and 25 October will offer Portuguese sign language interpretation and audio description.

Pedro Penim’s Production and the 1964 Fire: How the Reopening Is Framed

Why Macbeth Was Chosen to Mark the Return

Pedro Penim is both the theatre’s artistic director and the director and translator of this production, so the reopening also serves as a statement of artistic vision. The connection to the 1964 fire is not incidental: the play’s arc of ambition, violence, guilt and paranoia gives the theatre a way to address its own destruction and rebuilding without a literal retelling. That framing turns the reopening into a reflection on renewal, tying the venue’s history to the production’s themes of power and consequence.

What the Format Signals About the Theatre’s Audience Strategy

English subtitles on Saturdays suggest an effort to attract Lisbon’s international visitors as well as Portuguese-speaking residents. The dedicated sign language and audio-described sessions on 11 and 25 October, together with a facade videomapping show and an exhibition marking the theatre’s 180th anniversary, indicate that accessibility and public-facing opening events are being treated as central parts of the relaunch rather than add-ons. The announcement does not detail pricing, capacity or ticket availability, so the commercial side of the reopening cannot be assessed from the information provided.

For Theatre-Goers: Dates, Language Support and Accessibility

  • If you need English support, attend on a Saturday, when the Portuguese-language production has English subtitles.
  • For accessible performances, book for 11 or 25 October; those sessions include Portuguese sign language interpretation and audio description.
  • Opening night is 18 September, when a videomapping show projected on the facade and other reopening celebrations begin; the production itself runs until 31 October.
  • Confirm ticketing terms directly with the theatre — the reopening announcement lists dates and formats but does not include pricing or booking details.