One moment, the doomed Scottish usurper Macbeth clutches at a dagger in midair, but his hand cannot grasp it — is it really there? Later, talking heads and even an entire person emerge from the steaming cauldron of the three witches to ominously deliver the decisive prophecies of Macbeth’s fate — but how on earth did all these figures fit inside? Still later, Lady Macbeth’s gown is slowly soaked from beneath in blood as she screams the “Out, out, damned spot!” soliloquy — fake blood, from source unknown. Where did it come from?

The many magical illusions strung throughout the play allow for a variety of special effects, which makes the Folger Shakespeare Library’s production truly exquisite. But the magic really comes from the work of the play’s co-director Teller, the smaller, quieter half of the magician duo Penn and Teller. For the student who attended far too many mind-numbingly boring black box editions of Shakespeare (“Much Ado about Nothing,” indeed), this performance comes as a welcome relief: The magic and brisk pace (the play is kept to a two-hour running time) together help to keep the audience attentive — and awake — at all times. Most importantly, the magic is not intrusive or distracting, but instead serves only to add to and enliven the timeless story that unfolds onstage.

Of course, the Folger’s “Macbeth” is more than just a magic show. In fact, the play’s other director, the Helen Hayes Award-winning veteran Aaron Posner, complements the magical elements with a general aura of the mystical and exotic. Kenny Wollesen’s relentlessly creepy music, Daniel Conway’s dark Gothic set and Thom Weaver’s striking lighting collectively create a constantly evolving stage world to be observed, made all the more possible by the Elizabethan theater’s tiered, intimate design. Gory deaths, energetic (though sometimes anticlimactic) battle scenes, tactfully injected humor (Eric Hissom’s drunken porter is hilarious, especially in his interactions with the audience) and a rather cinematic style make this “Macbeth” the entertainment that it should be, instead of the stiff, academic yawn that Shakespeare sometimes can be.

Surprisingly, the solid performances delivered by the cast are equally important in giving this production its unique zest. Ian Merrill Peakes has mastered Macbeth’s delicate balance of boisterous machismo and almost pathetic hesitancy, and the robustness of his build and the uncertainty of his temperament make him ideal for the part.

Kate Eastwood Norris’s Lady Macbeth fails to disappoint, as well; she is cunning, zealous, enticing and unhinged in just the right ways, and Norris makes the most of the role (although her halting delivery of the iambic pentameter is occasionally distracting).

Paul Morella is also on the mark as the hopeless Banquo and the Three Witches, clearly played by three men, make no attempt at femininity, but in the end, their spookiness makes their sex quite insignificant.

This imagining of “Macbeth,” with its extravagant effects and continuous action, is perhaps not as sensitive to some of the subtleties of Shakespeare’s play as other productions have been. For example, the relationship between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth is reduced to a shrewish wife simply egging on a recalcitrant, indecisive husband — some of the complexities of these characters’ distinct compulsions are lost in the establishment of situation.

In the long run, however, it seems that Teller and Posner’s approach is worthwhile. In the interest of creating a “visceral, immediate and accessible” experience, they have likely sacrificed some thematic nuance in favor of brevity, narrative flow and suspense. As a spectator, I found this trade-off highly beneficial — the directors not only rightly assume that most of the spectators at the Folger have read the text themselves, but also that far fewer have experienced “Macbeth” in this macabre and utterly accessible vision.

The sudden drumbeats, lightning strikes, spurts of blood and crunches of bone keep audience members on their toes from start to finish. Considering what seeing this play must have been like in Elizabethan times, when uniformly male actors shouted their lines over the din of the theater crowds, and when stories like “Macbeth” were comparatively new, this angle seems not only appropriate, but refreshing — making this performance all the more magical.

“Macbeth” is running at the Folger Elizabethan Theatre through April 13. For more information, visit www.folger.edu.