Lin-Manuel Miranda’s play-acting chops run deep. Earlier today, the Hamilton creator, writer, songwriter, and original star shared two videos of himself in the eighth grade performing the titular character in Shakespeare’s Macbeth.
Known for selling out Broadway theaters, the famed playwright uses the streets of 1994 New York as his stage this time as his teenage self performs the tragedy alongside his friend, Ben Hong, who took on the antagonist role of Macduff. “2017 has been brutal. So here’s 8th grade Macbeth,” tweeted Miranda, with the clip above. “Shout out to Ben Hong, my favorite Macduff forever.” He went on:
It’s no secret that Miranda is a Shakespeare fan. In one of Hamilton’s hit songs, “Take a Break,” he references the tragedy. “I trust you’ll understand the reference to another Scottish tragedy without my having to name the play / They think me Macbeth, and ambition is my folly / I’m a polymath, a pain in the ass, a massive pain / Madison is Banquo, Jefferson’s Macduff / And Birnam Wood is Congress on its way to Dunsinane,” he raps as Alexander Hamilton.
In a former pinned tweet, Miranda also shared an exchange between himself and a random New York City dweller who mistakenly congratulated him on writing Shakespeare’s Hamlet instead of his actual play, Hamilton. In response, Miranda said he “wished” he wrote Hamlet.
