Mac Beth NYC Reviews and Tickets
Show-Score Member Reviews (137)
See it if you love fresh takes
Don't see it if you love staley stale stale
See it if You’ve never seen Macbeth like this. Innovative approach to the play and wonderfully choreographed movement. All-female cast.
Don't see it if I’m not sure why anyone wouldn’t at least find this production interesting unless they want a traditional approach to Shakespeare.
See it if You enjoy a fresh take on a classic play with all female casting and lots of gore and mayhem
Don't see it if You want a polished and professional production. This is a college production. It is full of energy but the acting/staging Is not quite pro
See it if You like reimaginings of Shakespeare. You like shows that feature young talent. You want a shorter show- Mac Beth runs 90 minutes.
Don't see it if You don’t want to see Shakespeare adapted or reimagined. A show about teenage girls is off-putting to you. There is some graphic violence.
See it if You like modern takes on Shakespeare, girl power, and great design elements.
Don't see it if You're squeamish or a purist when it comes to Shakespeare.
See it if you're a Shakespeare fan, but you're not afraid to see a classic get a bit roughed up. You want to be genuinely horrified for a spell.
Don't see it if you're faint of heart. Or you're hard of hearing. Audio is sometimes uneven in the space, especially once some stage effects get going.
See it if You like well acted Shakespeare with a twist.
Don't see it if You have never seen/read Macbeth before or you are extremely sensitive to gore. Read more
See it if you like seeing edgy twists on Shakespeare!
Don't see it if you're easily frightened or have a weak stomach. Read more
Critic Reviews (31)
"Despite it being an independent, tongue-in-cheek, quasi-parody of of the original, it contains some of the finest representations of the classic characters I have seen...The original play is brutal in its way and this salute to the play updates the pacing and shock value to match the times. What’s more, it’s a relatable entree into Shakespeare for young audiences who might not normally take an interest."
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"I’ve never seen a more exciting or clearer version than the Red Bull Theater production of 'Mac Beth,' stunningly adapted and directed by Erica Schmidt...The gender bending alone is an interesting twist...The other element that becomes blindingly clear...is the frightening combination of emotional immaturity, physical prime, raging hormones and group hypnosis that is the state of teenagerhood...The cast is extraordinary."
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"It’s a breathtakingly brilliant recreation...They carry the modern and the iconic with ease, all the the young female actors, bringing in references to classes and texts when needed...Much can be learned by this incantation, like the simplicity of this cast of seven bringing a forest and an epic battle to the forefront with deliberate action infused with a successfully dynamic and emotional weight...It’s dynamic and gloriously barbarous, this 'Mac Beth.'"
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“This all feels frustratingly like so much skill and talent wasted. Maybe if Schmidt had taken her adaptation deeper into the world of the disturbed young women who inspired it, a more profound understanding or sense of tragedy would have emerged. As it is, the treatment of their story feels flippant, and the treatment of Shakespeare’s unnecessary—entertaining on some levels, but ultimately pointless...It falls disappointingly into the world of gimmickry."
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"The production’s cleverness will not be enough for theatergoers who seek the depth and especially the coherence of the original play...Ultimately feels like little more than an engaging exercise. But that 'more' includes Isabelle Fuhrman’s increasingly intense performance as Macbeth, and some arresting stagecraft that produces a few scenes both chilling and thought-provoking."
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"It's nearly impossible to tell one minor character from another, or for that matter, even what the increasingly muddled play is about…If you're ready to watch seven young actresses whose nearly uniformly high-pitched voices barely differ from one another shouting Shakespeare's lines at Mach speed, then Schmidt's approach is for you. You may even not squirm as they turn the tragedy's characters into angst-ridden teenage girls, often completely missing the intent of the lines."
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"I don’t know why it’s being done...'Mac Beth' clearly wants to say something meaningful about how horrid high-school girls can be to one another. But it comes off more like a drama club production of 'Macbeth' at the kind of all-girls high school I attended, where the tall girls played the most masculine roles and the darker-skinned girls played the funny sidekicks...Schmidt doesn’t provide any real context that explains who these girls are."
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"Full of a whole lot of sound but precious little fury...Director Erica Schmidt explores some interesting ideas in her adaptation...But as a director, she’s produced a loud, exasperating muddle...The performances here are so spastic, the line delivery so rapid-fire that not only is Shakespeare’s poetry lost but also any sense that these are flesh-and-blood adolescents who have deliberately chosen to act out this ancient play in some grassy field."
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