Macbeth is a rapid, athletic tragedy, a little over half the length of Hamlet. But like Hamlet it is a supernatural visitation that propels the action. Macbeth and his friend Banquo encounter three witches on a barren plain, who say that Macbeth will one day be king of Scotland. But there is a living king, and Macbeth is not his heir, so the prophecy needs help, or anyway this is what Macbeth and his equally ambitious wife decide. That very night, the king is dead, and the couple discover that one murder will not suffice to secure their power, and that the psychic toll of the murders will be greater than they can bear. Finally all the dark deeds of the play, the secrets and repressed guiltiness, explode in all-out warfare, and the play comes to a thrilling, cataclysmic conclusion.