"Confusion now hath made his masterpiece!" - Macduff, Act II, Scene III (Shakespeare's Macbeth)

For its fifth anniversary, the Saint John Shakespeare Festival has rolled out the Scottish play, one that some say carries a centuries-old curse.

The story goes that when William Shakespeare wrote Macbeth around 1606, he used actual witches' incantations that were then uttered by the Bard's wonderful Weird sisters. This greatly distressed the sorceresses of the day who are said to have placed a curse on the play. A superstitious lot, actors and directors have since gone to great pains not to utter the name of the work, as doing so would supposedly bring great misfortune to those who did.

Elizabeth Chase, director of Macbeth, is a great believer in this curse and for years would not even utter the name Macbeth. Nevertheless, she and a large cast of talented locals managed to thwart any curse or confusion and successfully mounted this masterpiece of ambition, power, deception and treachery.

The Gothic Arches, a former United Church that looms on the corner of Wentworth and Princess Streets, was the perfect setting for the play with its towering ceilings and stained glass. Played out in the Great Hall, the church's former sanctuary, the audience is so close that the actors can play directly to the patrons, of which there were about 100 Friday night. The hall also provided important atmospherics, whether standing in for the brightly lit heath in the early stages of the play, or Macbeth's darkening castle later on when the blood begins to flow as the sun dipped below the horizon outside.

The set, oft-used before, was just a castle facade of faux stone steps at the back of the stage. Otherwise, the platform was bare, just as it should be, allowing the actors to tell the story of the doomed ruler of Scotland, who was an actual historical figure. Shakespeare played fast and loose with the details and juiced up the king's life with his own imaginative splashes. The Weird sisters, for one, were one such invention. These three cackling hags, who appear in the play's first scene, set the tone for the night. Kristi Neilsen, Christi Wheaton and Sandra Bell were superb as the ragged witches, teeth blackened, faces smudged with grime and hair tangled into frightening confections. The women responsible for the look, Andrea Arbour and Julie Buckley, did a superb job of makeup and wardrobe, respectively.

Among other things, Macbeth (Tim Turnell) hears from the witches that he will become king, setting a murderous rampage in motion. With the help of Lady Macbeth (Beth Herron), Macbeth offs King Duncan (Douglas Kelly) in Macbeth's castle, becomes ruler, then continues his orders to kill, fearful that the hags' other prophecies will come true.

Turnell gives a wonderful, nuanced performance as Macbeth, whether the triumphant young general, or the mad king haunted by the blood on his hands. When he starts throwing stools and goblets at the close of Act I in a terribly real mad fit, the air goes out of the room. Herron, ever the nice girl on stage, was a welcome surprise as Lady Macbeth, virtually unrecognizable in a flowing wig, a snarl on her usually smiling lips. The supporting cast was uniformly strong. Particularly good was Chad Humphries as Macduff, the man who eventually fells the play's title character in a final battle.

Live music provided by John Tickner, trumpeter/drummer and Joyce Newman, keyboards/ drums, added the right touch of fanfare or malice, whatever the scene called for. The one quibble is that, visible as they were in the balcony, Tickner's T-shirt and shorts didn't fit with the rest of the play that was so well executed. Granted, the second-storey perch can be a scorcher on hot summer night, but surely wardrobe could find the musician something comfortable and appropriate to wear.

Nevertheless, with performances this strong, the Saint John Shakespeare Festival should be around for many years to come.

Macbeth runs for three more shows this week: Thursday, Friday, Saturday at The Gothic Arches, 95 Wentworth Street. Tickets are $15 and are available at the Imperial Theatre, Harbour Station , or at the door. Curtain time is 7:30 p.m.