Macbeth (Classic Stage Company) NYC Reviews and Tickets

75%

(72 Reviews)

Positive

76%

Mixed

18%

Negative

Members say

Great acting, Absorbing, Disappointing, Intelligent, Great staging

About the Show

Corey Stoll ("First Man," “House of Cards”) and Nadia Bowers ("Describe the Night," "The Farnsworth Invention") star in Classic Stage Company’s production of Shakespeare's dark tragedy.

From the show:

A terrifyingly prophetic tale of revenge, murder, and madness, Macbeth ominously traces the fallout when the darkest side of humanity cheats its way into a position of power. Often referred to as “The Scottish Play” by superstitious theatergoers due to the purported witchcraft found within its text, Macbeth is one of Shakespeare’s bloodiest, scariest, and yet, most popular tragedies.

Member Reviews (72)

Edgy, Intelligent, Great acting, Thought-provoking, Absorbing

See it if Doyle's "lean & hungry" staging moves like a stealth missile w/judicious pruning & economic ensemble igniting dark tragedy Leads outstanding

Don't see it if Doyle's usual clipped staging can cause grief (for purists) or confusion (for novices) but gets job done w/scenes of quick shocking violence

Thought-provoking, Great acting, Dizzying, Clever, Absorbing

See it if Great acting by Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. Love the thrust stage and CSC is an expert with it. Fun finding a witch or her words,

Don't see it if 9 actors play more than 25 roles but with almost same costumes. 2 great female actors play 2 1/2 male roles. . Set is a throne and... Read more

Ambitious, Intelligent, Great acting, Absorbing

See it if John Doyle and the terrific Stoll and spouse distill a brief, bare Scot tragedy with gender-flipped roles and shades of grey/noir wardrobe.

Don't see it if Having apparently exhausted musical/political dramas, the Doyle factory sets its crosshairs on steamrolling the inevitable Shakespeare canon

Riveting, Intelligent, Great writing, Great acting, Absorbing

See it if you enjoy Shakespeare but aren’t in the mood to sit through a three-hour play. This abridged 100-minute version is quick and impactful.

Don't see it if you don’t like Shakespeare or prefer to experience his works staged in full.

For shakespeare buffs who will forgive the confusing parts, Great staging, Great acting, Stark

See it if you’ll enjoy many excellent Macbeth scenes even if the show as a whole stretches credibility bcz the collapse of Macbeth’s reign is so rapid

Don't see it if Anyone going to CSC likely has a few Macbeths under their belt, but I’m still not sure if all of Doyle’s intentions were made clear Read more

Edgy, Intense, Intelligent, Great acting, Absorbing

See it if dark Shakespeare tragedy stripped down to essentials in a 1hr 45 min production; an excellent Stroll who shows the character's changes in*

Don't see it if don't want violence, minimalist staging, want more of the original play presented; don't like actors coming from multiple sides of theater Read more

Slightly disappointing yet, while trimmed to under 2 hours, still effective in capturing the tone of the original, Distracting lighting (glaring and painful at times), Sparse and spare set-design, Dizzyingly fast-paced, Talented cast

See it if you don’t mind a shortened form of William Shakespeare’s Macbeth that barely gives you time to breathe between scenes; a fan of the actors.

Don't see it if seeking traditional Shakespeare; don't like /confused by actors in multiple roles; aren’t a fan of CSC’s spare sets and garish lighting. Read more

Slow, Disappointing, Confusing

See it if You want to see every Macbeth. Corey Stoll good.

Don't see it if You want the complete Macbeth-this version is cut. No scenery at all. Hard to hear, audience on three sides. Confusing sometimes who’s who. Read more

Critic Reviews (16)

CRITIC’S PICK "A Decent Man Turns Murderous Tyrant: A bracingly lucid Corey Stoll embodies Shakespeare’s thane who, step by step, cedes his soul to his own darkest impulses."
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2/5 stars: "Coldy lit and swathed in drab tartan, Classic Stage Company's Macbeth resembles an especially severe fall runway show. Color, emotional and otherwise, is out. Stage blood on the hands of its doomed thane (Corey Stoll) is the first sign of life in director-designer John Doyle's odd and funerary production."
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"John Doyle’s Blankie 'Macbeth' and Zawe Ashton’s Memorable 'for all the women…'"
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"Real-life spouses Corey Stoll and Nadia Bowers play Shakespeare's murderous couple, directed by Tony Award winner John Doyle."
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"Corey Stoll Is a Modern 'Macbeth' in a Medieval World: Classic Stage Company mounts a revival of the Scottish play."
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"Something Edited This Way Comes as John Doyle Directs Corey Stoll, Nadia Bowers in 'MACBETH'"
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"John Doyle's new production of 'Macbeth' is sleek, stripped down, and ready for action; having gotten one of William Shakespeare's darkest tragedies into fighting trim, however, he seems to have no idea what to do with it."
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"Corey Stoll begins well but, approximately 30-40 minutes into the piece, he lapses into a contemporary delivery of his lines that's soon followed by anachronistic gestures and body language. One suspects Stoll, who's a talented actor, has a Macbeth within him, but it's not this misguided production."
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3/5 Stars: "John Doyle directs Corey Stoll's title warrior as too full of the milk of human kindness."
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4/5 Stars: "The couple who slays together stays together? Real-life spouses Corey Stoll and Nadia Bowers star as Shakespeare's murderous Scots in John Doyle's production."
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"THE PLAY THAT MUST NOT BE NAMED: CSC’s minimalist staging of Shakespeare’s spookiest play takes the slippage between stage and reality to whole new levels."
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"There has been a recent trend to perform Shakespeare as minimally as possible and with as few actors as possible. However, the question arises what is gained? When the doubling of roles proves confusing so that when actors appear it is difficult to know who they are playing, what is the point?"
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"Though John Doyle breaks the rules in all the right ways, newbies to the play are likely to become confused at times by its gender-blind casting and the nine cast members who play multiple roles in this all-hands-on-deck production."
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"'If we fail.' 'We fail.' This is the rapturous CSC rendition's motto, and as directed and designed with a sparsity that would have made my college project a breeze, John Doyle mostly doesn't, plowing this tyrannic beast forward at a clip worthy of a war-time charge."
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"Unfortunately, these examples are the confounded decisions that plague this current production. "Less is more," could possibly be the mantra of Mr. Doyle's recent endeavors but this incarnation of 'Macbeth' is more or less distorted and inconsequential."
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"These choices rob the play of context, removing…the…process by which Macbeth…finds himself…ensnared in the web that leads to his accession and decline. The editing pushes the action forward in…leaps…providing little time to appreciate the matrix of political and personal circumstances."
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