THIS year's key stage four production at Queen Katherine School is Shakespeare's tragedy Macbeth.

One of the Bard's greatest dramatic works, the themes explored in the play include ambition, fate, deception and treachery.

Performances are in the Kendal school's main drama studio on Thursday and Friday, December 3/4 (7pm).

QKS head of performing arts, Caroline Barber, directs the show, and has stripped the production right down to basics so that the lines and the acting speak for themselves. With a choreographed opening battle by local dance teacher, Rachel Towe, Caroline says its a production that will grab the audience's attention from the very start: "I like to tackle a Shakespeare play every three years as I think it is important that students see how rich the language is and how great the stories are," adds Caroline. "I know that working on this production has inspired the cast to watch the new Macbeth film. I've been really impressed with the work that the students have undertaken on ensuring that they understand the language in order to make their performance truthful."

Macbeth tells the story of great Scottish general Macbeth who receives a prophecy from three witches that he'll become King of Scotland. Consumed by ambition and encouraged by his wife, he murders King Duncan and takes the throne for himself. He is then wracked with guilt and paranoia, and soon becomes a tyrannical ruler and forced to commit more and more murders to protect himself.

Tickets are available from the school reception.