Peerless NYC Reviews and Tickets
About the Show
Production Covid-19 Safety ProtocolsShow-Score Member Reviews (93)
See it if you'd get a rush from a sly riff on MACBETH that comes with idiosyncratic poetry well-played, well-dressed, well-appointed & well staged.
Don't see it if you're triggered by fat-shaming rants, get freaked out by too-realistic death-scenes or require copious amounts of stage blood for tragedy. Read more
See it if you like pointed satire about social issues, specifically the immigrant school experience and the pressure to achieve.
Don't see it if you’re put off by plot points/character motivations that are exaggerated for effect. Some of the satirical elements stretched believability.
See it if for snappy dialogue, plot twists, dark themes, strong acting, creative directing, gr prodn values (lighting, set, costume, sound). Polished.
Don't see it if you want full engagement. Some scenes drag. 10-15 min could be cut. Still, it's funny, edgy. Parallels to MacB are clever.
See it if you like updated takes on Shakespeare, comedies that have something to say about the world, small productions
Don't see it if you are easily offended, don't enjoy fast-paced dialogue, prefer naturalistic staging.
See it if like a clueless type take on Macbeth with very poetic dialogue that is often fun.
Don't see it if Mind unnatural sounding dialogue and a bit of a modern ending that feels like a cop out to me.
See it if An absorbing story.
Don't see it if You don’t like mystery or prefer musicals.
See it if you like modernized Shakespeare, great acting, spare productions.
Don't see it if you don't like tragicomic horror or cliches about ruthless overachievers.
See it if you like fast-paced, quirky teen stories that are dark, weird (and unrealistic) but still entertaining
Don't see it if you don't like fast, rhythmic dialogue; dark humor isn't your thing
Critic Reviews (6)
"The production suggests a richer and spikier play about the ways in which members of Gen Z rehearse, perform and weaponize identity, and about the sacrifices that we make in the present to secure an increasingly insecure future."
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"Park stylizes her play with repetitive dialogue and rhythmic patter that sets the nerves so on edge that you can't help but feel immediately threatened."
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"Director Margot Bordelon mostly manages to pace things well, but peerless either needs to be cut back or expanded to avoid what seems to be a hastily managed ending to a relatively strong beginning."
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"At an intermissionless 80 minutes, peerless is too long...Yet one more reason to take in peerless is its giving stage time to the increasingly pressing topic of affirmative action, now on the radical Supreme Court 2022-23 docket."
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"Park’s script is spare and taut, with not a wasted syllable...The production elements, too, are crisp and striking, in simple, saturated colors."
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Unlike Macbitches, which talked about Macbeth but didn’t borrow its plot, Peerless does feature a protagonist nudged toward unscrupulous behavior by the person closest to them. ... Park didn’t write in iambic pentameter, but her dialogue has its own distinctive rhythm: short, sometimes single-word lines spoken in a rat-a-tat cadence, with characters often finishing each other’s sentences or cutting them off.
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