There might be no better way to adapt “Macbeth” to the stage in Annapolis than to change the setting from Scotland to Revolutionary War America.

Classic Theatre of Maryland artistic director Sally Boyett has done just that in her company’s fall season premiere Thursday. The cast dons tricorn hats and ruffled dresses, General Macbeth and King Duncan are in Continental Army officers’ blue-and-buff uniforms and the story becomes a cautionary tale of ambition with an American twist.

“The story works when set against the backdrop of 1781 America,” Boyett wrote in an email. “Duncan is revered as a George Washington type. This is a ‘what if’ things had gone very differently with the power vacuum created after the final defeat of the British.’

Considered Shakespeare’s most accessible play, “Macbeth” is the dark tragedy of a violent rise to power and bloody fall. It has been performed for American audiences since before the revolution, perhaps even in Colonial Annapolis.

It’s not the first time Boyett, who directs the play, has used the concept. She filmed a version at Historic London Towne & Gardens in 2020, at the height of social restrictions during the COVID pandemic. It is still in post-production.

The stage version is a different adaptation, but this “Macbeth” still includes elements of the supernatural, stick-in-your-head language — “Double, double toil and trouble” and “Out damned spot, out I say” — and memorable characters such as Lady Macbeth.

“Macbeth” continues through Oct. 13, with performances on Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. General admission tickets are $55 to $85, plus taxes and fees. Discounts for seniors over 62 and students are available.

In other fall productions, this is the final weekend for Colonial Players’ “Tiny Beautiful Things,” while the Compass Rose Theatre show, “Intimate Apparel,” continues through Oct. 6.

Back from the past

8 p.m. Thursday

Nostalgic music in Annapolis reaches a new milestone with “Welcome Back My Friends — The Return of Emerson, Lake & Palmer” at Maryland Hall. Rams Head on Stage and its Rams Head Presents concert series are a popular stop for groups still touring decades after the height of their popularity or nostalgia groups recreating their hits.

But this show may be the first time that deceased members of a decades-old group “perform.” Drummer Carl Palmer, the surviving member of the 1970s rock trio, used footage from a 1992 ELP concert to generate images of Keith Emerson and Greg Lake. They’re on stage in video form with Palmer’s ELP Legacy band.

The Annapolis show comes midway through a seven-city tour and includes a Q&A session on the band and how the concert was created. Palmer released the box set “Fanfare for the Common Man,” named for the group’s 1977 hit adapted from Aaron Copeland’s 1942 classic, in April.

Tickets are $45-$95, plus taxes and fees.

Books, books and more books

Friday and Saturday

Two book fairs will make this a weekend to shop for your next read.

Parole Rotary holds its Books for International Goodwill sale from 3-5 p.m. Friday and 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at 451 Defense Highway, featuring more than 70,000 used DVDs, CDs, puzzles and games. Prices range from $1 to $3, cash or checks only. Proceeds benefit the BIG program, which has sent more than 9.5 million books to underserved populations in the United States and abroad over the last 27 years.

The Anne Arundel County Literacy Council holds its annual book fair from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at Annapolis Mall between Crate & Barrel and Discoveries: The Library at the Mall. It features hundreds of used books for sale, and proceeds benefit the council’s literacy, math, diploma studies and English language learning tutoring programs.

Hey, Lucie

7:30 p.m. Friday

The somewhat famous daughter of television icons Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, Lucie Arnaz, has been touring the country with “I Got the Job,” a concert of Broadway and other songs from her lifelong stage and television career.

It comes to Maryland Hall as the first show of the Live Arts Maryland season. General admission tickets are $50-$62 plus taxes and fees. Discounted tickets for students, seniors and members of the military are available.

Festival de la herencia

Noon to 4 p.m. Saturday

Jesse Raudales tried to incorporate things that unite members of the American Hispanic community, no matter where they come from, for the poster he created for the first Annapolis Hispanic Heritage Month Festival.

“We all celebrate a similar way,” said Raudales, who first gained fame as an artist for his 2006 U.S. Olympics winter team poster. “We have the same festivities.”

Raudales came to the United States with his mother from Mexico, or more accurately, she carried him here and delivered him shortly after she crossed the border.

“Had she not done that, I wouldn’t be here.”

He’s lived in Los Angeles, North Carolina and other places before landing in Annapolis in 2018 to become executive director of the OIC. The education and job training program is the only one in the country that offers Spanish language programs. He continues to make and sell art.

The poster is a 12-by-18 mix of bright colors and hand-drawn figures. Annapolis Parks and Recreation will give away copies while supplies last.

“The piece celebrates Hispanic and Latino cultures, emphasizing unity and commonality in their cultural expressions. The artwork showcases various elements symbolizing different traditions, yet highlights that despite these differences, all Hispanic cultures celebrate their heritage similarly and interconnected,” Raudales said.

The festival at the Pip Moyer Recreation Center includes exhibits of the Mexican professional wrestling form, Lucha Libre, Mariachi music and Latin dance demonstrations and lessons. Food trucks, loteria games, crafts and community resources are also scheduled.

Free admission.

Gone to the dogs

2 to 4 p.m. Sunday

The Annapolis Recreation and Parks staff cleans up the Truxtun Park pool and closes it at the end of every summer. Before it shuts down, though, they open it to dogs of all sorts for The Doggy Dive.

Dogs must be registered in advance for the end-of-season paddle, and owners must be 18 or older. One dog per handler, and people can’t go in the pool with their pooches. $10.

Shake it off

5-7 p.m. Wednesday

If you can’t make it to the final leg of Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour when it returns to the U.S. next month, head to the Maryland Corn Maze in Odenton for Kanin Wren’s midweek tribute show.

Wren, who fronts the Taylor Swift Experience, is touring the U.S. performing Swift’s catalog. Standing room only. Tickets are $22.