Young actors and stage hands have been busy across Swindon this month... and the fruits of their labour can be seen this weekend

NERF gun cocked, Macbeth slinks towards his target. To his right, one of the three witches, reinvented as a fearsome Year 8 pupil thunders her prophecy from a soapbox, a pistol clutched in each hand gang-lord style. Behind her, Lenny Macbeef pounces on a helpless child and within seconds has him in an arm lock.

Amid the mayhem, Duncan leaps into the air surveying his kingdom: the playground. Order is eventually restored as the warriors lower their weapons and proclaim the teenager the King of Cool. And scene.

"It's really important to put the play into a context that they can grasp, find interesting and relate to," reasons Quirky Bird Theatre artistic director Anna Friend, the woman behind this modern retelling of Shakespeare's timeless classic, Macbeth.

"A lot if it is their own understanding of Macbeth. I wrote the script but they have a lot of input."

Lord of the Flies meets the bard's grisly tale of betrayal and fight to the death for dominion, Macbeth - Battle for the Playground leaves the desolate Scottish moors for the ruthless halls of a secondary school "with no rules" where Big D, the King of Cool, reigns supreme. But social pariah Macbeth is plotting to usurp his title.

Anna initially intended to revisit Romeo and Juliet for this year's summer intensive at Royal Wootton Bassett’s Methodist Church. But the larger-than-expected uptake of boys - seven compared to just two girls - prompted her to rethink her choice. Surprisingly, even with two actresses handy, she opted to rewrite the part of Lady Macbeth for a man. The scheming spouse is now Lenny Macbeef, Macbeth’s right-hand man and partner in crime.

"It's important to have the right actors in the right roles," explains the award-winning director. "And to have people playing to the appropriate age range."

Aside from a few concessions to modern English - namely references to the King of Cool - the abridged play is faithful to the original text.

Spirits are high among the cast and energy is pumping on the second day of rehearsals - and it is just as well. With a meagre four days left until curtain up on Saturday, they will need all the passion and zeal they can muster to get the show stage-ready in time.

"Six days is quite intense," admits David Higgins, from Blunsdon, aka ousted Big D.

"But it's very refreshing to do something so different. I'm a big Shakespeare fan and I think all the themes are still really relevant. But it's a lot more relatable. It comes out a lot more in the actions."

While the 18-year-old Stagecoach and Gatecrash student was familiar with Shakespeare's canon when he hopped on board - with a well-thumbed copy of the complete works and previous performances of Hamlet, Macbeth and Midsummer Night's Dream under his belt to prove it - Todd Bell, who plays the title role, was far more daunted at the prospect of tackling at times impenetrable original lines.

"The language has been difficult," concedes the 13-year-old, who travelled all the way from Cumbria to join the production.

"The lines are arranged in a different order so it's more difficult to learn," adds Todd, who starred as Michael in Billy Elliot on the West End. "I've also never really gone mental as a character. It's been hard to do a full nervous breakdown.

"The way we're doing it is so different and fun - it's still a tragedy but we've been able to add a bit of comedy. It sheds a new light on the whole story."

Macbeth runs for one night only on Saturday at 6pm at RWB Methodist Church. Tickets are £5 for adults and £4 for concessions and children.