?>
originally published: 09/26/2025

Karen Alvarado and Justin Hofstad
(NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ) — Thinkery & Verse returns to the Church of St. John the Evangelist in New Brunswick with the World Premiere of The Tragedy of Macbeth, adapted by Dr. J.M. Meyer and Karen Eliza Alvarado and directed by Dr. J.M. Meyer. The production has a three-week limited engagement at the Assembly Hall at the Church of Saint John the Evangelist from October 8-25, 2025.
Set in colonial Middlesex County during the first wave of Scottish immigration into New Jersey, Meyer and Alvarado’s adaptation uses Shakespeare’s classic play to examine issues of race, gender, and war in Early America. Taking inspiration from Early American history and Akira Kurosawa’s Throne of Blood, Shakespeare’s classic drama unfolds as a fable for the New World.
The year is 1700. The Dutch have lost their grip on the New World, and the first wave of Scots immigrants (including radical Quakers and Jacobite glory-seekers) are struggling for a foothold in the ancestral lands of the Lenape.

Lazarus Simmons, Alex Scoloveno, Carl Muhler, and Justin Hofstad
Drawing inspiration from Kurosawa’s Throne of Blood, this Macbeth is both hauntingly familiar and startlingly new, where witches, war, and ambition unfold against the backdrop of race, gender, and early American identity.
Tickets are available for purchase online. Church of Saint John the Evangelist is located at 189 George Street in New Brunswick, New Jersey.
Follow New Jersey Stage on social media
Facebook, Threads, Instagram, Twitter, Bluesky
According to co-artistic director K. Elisa Alvarado, “Our historic re-telling is funny, earthy, violent, and poetic. An American Macbeth is the perfect play for staying grounded in 2025.” K. Elisa Alvarado plays Lady Macbeth…