Makbet NYC Reviews and Tickets

"Left me a little dazed...If sweat is coursing down your body while the air is steadily thickening, you are not in an optimal environment for theatergoing...The ritual of storytelling is built into the staging, with some remarkably lovely movement sequences. But 'Makbet' is vastly more interested in magic—the dark kind and the theatrical kind—than it is in the bloody struggle for the crown. So there is no weight to its tragedy. It becomes merely an experiment in form."
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“For me, the moment of revelation never arrived…The biggest problem, I think, is that, even with these technically skilled performers in charge, this production doesn't offer new insights that would justify its radically simplified approach…The necessary dramatic intensity is never achieved and the gypsy atmosphere comes to seem like an affectation; the best thing about ‘Makbet’ is its fast pace.”
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"A very fun and inventive staging...An ensemble of pretty incredible actors take turns spontaneously trading off parts at the drop of a hat...It would be difficult to see this telling of 'Macbeth' without a solid knowledge of the true Shakespearean play...Subtlety is not a word I would use for any of the scenes and performances...I was hoping for more levels and shades...In the end, the story unfolds dramatically, and we are engrossed (for the most part) in the telling of it."
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"You haven’t seen 'Macbeth' until you’ve seen it presented by the Dzieci Theatre...It’s Shakespeare, all right, trimmed to two hours but with all the favorite passages retained. There’s a ritualistic aura about it, enhanced by frequent banging on the container sides and barely ceasing choral moaning and howling. You’ll have to decide how much of this you can take...The unexpected undertaking is an eye-popping-ear-poking confirmation that Shakespeare constructed something not easily degraded."
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"The combination of childish playfulness and the ritualistic approach to theater makes 'Makbet' a one-of-a-kind immersive show...The location, lighting, and props might sound like a scrappy DIY theater, but are in fact scrupulously fitted elements...'Makbet' is not to be missed. The beauty of Dzieci’s production is that, seemingly without trying, it can satisfy the tastes of very diverse audiences...All kinds of folk will find something precious in this experience."
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“The performance itself is intimate and powerful. The actors’ trust in one another is palpable…While the performance is riveting, audiences who’ve had little exposure to ‘Macbeth’ may find the swapping of roles confusing. None of these things should dissuade audiences from seeing ‘Makbet,’ though. Dzieci’s staging of Shakespeare’s play is a truly unique and rewarding venture...Catch it while you can.”
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"The choice to have three actors play all the characters becomes in practice chaotic. Any viewer who is unfamiliar with 'Macbeth' will probably have no idea what is going on...Mitler’s pacing of the performance is also disjointed...Each scene moves slowly and at the same speed as before, losing the attention of the audience and the energy of the play...By the end of the performance, it feels like a miracle to be let out of the hot and stuffy theater container to breathe fresh air."
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"The elemental truth of the Scottish Play is brought forth in a profound, vivid, and completely unexpected way...The setting is more than a novelty, and reflects the company’s mission to authentically engage the community...The masterful use of space, movement, and diegetic music are not a replacement for engaging the poetry of Shakespeare, but rather in addition to...'Makbet' carries through the text’s slumps with the moment-to-moment intensity of the players."
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"By far the most thrilling reinterpretation of 'Macbeth' we've ever seen...The lines and scenes were Shakespeare's nearly as he wrote them, but abridged enough that it wasn't the least bit cumbersome...Hats off to Mitler and his small but convincing cast for turning the same ol' same-old into something refreshingly, compellingly new. Even if you're not among the countless fans of The Bard, this production is worth giving a try."
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"An intense and deeply satisfying version of Shakespeare's tragedy...The small space works well in compelling the audience to share very intimately the characters’ suffering and passions. And oh, such passions...Mitler sticks faithfully to Shakespeare’s original text, with judicious trims, in his adaptation...It's all terrific theatre...It's a good bet that at every performance, these scenes—and indeed the entire play—will be acted with riveting intensity."
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“A lively, thrilling experience that feels as much like a children’s game as a carefully considered ritual…The rabid enthusiasm that Dzieci has applied to the frame of the piece and the different storytelling elements go a long way toward illustrating the world and immersing the audience, but it was difficult, at times, to discern what was happening…Ultimately, 'Makbet' is a fun experience, and a provocative sample of experimental storytelling, but not an effective depiction of the classic."
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“‘Makbet,’ successfully adapted, directed, and acted by Matt Mitler, triumphantly recreates the story of ‘Macbeth’ in a shockingly unconventional way while maintaining the integral notion that Fate cannot be fought against. Perhaps what is most memorable about this piece of art is the opening and closing Eastern European songs that are ceremoniously sung...Those lucky enough to attend ‘Makbet’ will thank Fate for allowing them to end up at such an important theatrical experience.”
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“This improvisational, site-specific production achieves a great deal with just a few tools…The dramatic moments were more successful than the comedic…When all three became Lady Macbeth as she descends into madness, passing off line after line to each other, and wrapping all in her symbolic red scarf, the mechanism of this unusual staging approach worked to greatest effect...With its rich musical landscape and its unusual presentation, ‘Makbet’ provides an unexpected twist on a classic.”
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“You will likely need to have at least read ‘Macbeth’ before to keep all of the minor characters straight, but it is remarkable how well this ensemble tells an emotionally engaging, clear story…The constant shifting of roles between the actors also allows for fascinating transgressive gender moments as well as the maturing of relationships…A ‘gypsy ritual Macbeth’ could have gone horribly wrong, but under the expert guidance of Dzieci Theatre Group 'Makbet' soars.”
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“Wildly entertaining…An intimately unruly and unforgettable experience…Shakespeare’s words blend with guttural cries, crafting a production filled with passion, at times jarring but never false…In such close quarters, there are probably no more than 25 seats in the whole container, there is no room for an insincere reaction from the actors, and there never was...It’s a thrilling production that manages to put a new and exciting spin on a show we’ve seen a thousand times."
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“Memory fails if I have seen a realization of 'Macbeth' that so captures its sense of confinement and moral entrapment…You don’t follow it so much as let it wash over you...The actors give themselves up, as containers, through which the play, with all its malevolence, courses…This is not a 'Macbeth' that leaves you thinking that human nature is irredeemable, but a cleansing ceremony, cathartic in the ancient sense, that does the opposite, dramatic substance as an agent of purification."
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