From left, Ethan Watermeier, Rachel Montgomery, and Emily Noël star as the witches in Folger Theatre’s “Macbeth.” (Photo by Brittany Diliberto courtesy of Folger Theatre)

The staging of Macbeth currently playing at the Folger Theatre is unlike anything the world has seen in ages. This isn’t hyperbole—Folger’s production is a revival of a 17th-century, Restoration-era adaptation by William Davenant, one that Shakespearian sleuths haven’t discovered a full performance of since the mid-18th century. What’s old is new again. And what’s new is thrilling.

First performed around 1664, Davenant’s Macbeth contemporized the Bard’s tragedy about the Scottish general and his deadly quest to acquire and keep the Scottish throne by including innovative, technical stagecraft; beefed-up roles for women; and, most notably, a Baroque soundtrack, here performed live by the excellent Folger Consort. Oh, I should mention another update: the trio of witches. They sing. A lot.

Folger’s reconstruction of Davenant’s Macbeth—the result of a years-long collaboration between scholars and artists—feels modern and alive. It’s spectacular. Barreling action is amplified by a chamber ensemble that’s placed, literally, above the fray. A runaway plot and a ceaseless soundtrack harmonize onstage. The result is operatic, if not cinematic, given the show’s use of shadows projected on makeshift screens.

Director Robert Richmond, in a seeming nod to Marat/Sade, throws us into an asylum, where mad patients stage Macbeth as a fundraiser. It’s a story within a story set in Bedlam, London’s notorious psychiatric hospital, circa 1666. We, the audience, are part of the show, rich donors in this delirious, menacing production. The players are ill from the start and Macbeth only exacerbates their trauma. Things go downhill, scene by scene, at a steady clip. Mayhem ensues.

Macbeth is performed by an impeccable cast of actors who keep this wayward ship afloat. The central duo of Lady Macbeth (a steely Kate Eastwood Norris) and her husband (Ian Merrill Peakes, extraordinary in his madness) is countered by the Restoration-era prominence of Lady Macduff (a stern and kind Karen Peakes) and her husband (the heroic Chris Genebach). Three omnipresent witches are fabulous, if physically dingy, harlots (Rachael Montgomery, Emily Noël, and Ethan Watermeier). Their specters haunt this wild and increasingly unmoored Scotland. They’re agents of chaos, stoking a murderous frenzy.

By the end of this production, the action spills offstage. Characters appear throughout the theater, top to bottom. Macbeth’s final, electrifying duel commences amid the orchestra seats. The cauldron has boiled over. A dark premonition is realized. At the close of this Macbeth, Will’s cold grasp feels tighter than ever.

Macbeth runs at Folger Theatre through Sept. 23, various times, tickets $42-$79.