BREATHS were bated in anticipation for this collision of moments in theatrical history – Liverpool Everyman’s final major show, before it closes for demolition this summer, and the return of David Morrissey to the stage where he first discovered his passion, and aptitude, for his craft.

With the weight of a city’s expectation upon her shoulders, director Gemma Bodinetz had charged herself with a task of elephantine proportions – to present a play that pays tribute to the theatre’s great past while raising the bar for its future.

Has she succeeded? Has she ever.

It took just a few seconds to establish a disconcerting atmosphere that built apace until Macbeth’s foul murder of Duncan and the conveyor belt of slaughterings that follows it.

Shakespeare’s theme of the unnatural pervades every element – a stage set already crumbling into decay long before the first drop of innocent blood is spilled; an elderly witch with the protruding belly of a pregnant woman; a soundtrack of white noise, dramatic chords and hooting owls.

Escheresque staircases climb into unseen rooms, drainpipes spew water and the scenery dwarfs the players as though they are mere pawns in a greater game.

Morrissey’s Macbeth is commanding – there will be audience members left with dry eyes from feeling unable to blink during his performance.