Macbitches

by Sophie McIntosh

When a freshman is unexpectedly given the coveted role of Lady Macbeth, a few upperclassmen actresses invite her over to "celebrate" her casting and reassert their positions at the top of the theatre department's hierarchy. As the Fireball and Svedka flow, the girls interrogate their own sense of ambition as well as the power structures that have shaped their theatrical education-and when the night spirals into violent and shoking acts of betrayal, they come to learns that what's don cannot be undone.

Genres: Plays

104 pages, Paperback

Published October 18, 2022

Reviews

[Erica · Rating 5 out of 5]

she stole my life
she made me cuckooooo
she's why I spent four years *locked* in that /health spa/

[Lyndsay · Rating 2 out of 5]

Take this review with a grain of salt, as I freely admit I don't often like plays I read until I've seen them staged. Ultimately I felt that the ending kind of came out of left field, and nothing in the preceding 3/4 of the play had any foreshadowing that it could go that far. Maybe that was intentional, to show that young ambitious women sometimes take things too far. But ultimately I was left wondering what we were supposed to take away from this play, so it just wasn't for me.

[Tatiana Lucia · Rating 2 out of 5]

For a book centered around the notion of “how far will these girls go for the lead role??” the ending climax was not the explosion i expected it to be. More build up needed to be done in the early stages of the play to set the stakes and to make it more believable. Especially around Rachel’s character. I would have also liked to have seen some stronger commentary on the sexism in their department perpetuated by their directors/professors, like it’s there but it needed to be MORE. It was missing that last piece of “so what?” because ultimately having the girls turn on each other made the criticism of their misogynistic teachers almost justified?? Or even just irrelevant. Because at that point the teachers just weren’t cruel enough to me and even Rachel’s big reveal at the end (regarding Arik) felt kind of like an extra unnecessary thing that wasn’t developed well enough. But regardless, I enjoyed the back and forth banter and the world building. I really felt like I know these girls in real life or can relate them to people I’ve met in theater. The playbill credits as character intros was also a nice touch!

[Tessa Martinez · Rating 3 out of 5]

While the dialogue and the play's knowledge of the cattiness and competitiveness of the collegiate theatrical world are incredible, I was a bit disappointed by the final showdown. For a play centered around it, the build to "let's murder her" just wasn't there, in my opinion. I would have loved to see the build to that point for the culprits throughout the night rather than going from tense-yet-civil conversation to attack.

[Taylor Penn · Rating 5 out of 5]

IYKYK
but holy hell I love this play

[maddie · Rating 3 out of 5]

this is exactly what theatre school is like

[Zachary Pareizs · Rating 4 out of 5]

What fun!!! Super real, funny, dark. Reads almost like a 5 person version of DeLappe’s The Wolves.

Not really a spoiler to say oh no! Another modern play that is normal and catty until a shocking act of violence!

[Michael Anderson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Theatre majors wait for the cast of Macbeth to be posted when the list comes out they learn that a freshmen girl got the lead part. The established girls of Cam, Lexi, Piper, and their leader Rachel invite the freshmen Hailey over to celebrate and get to know her. Of course Rachel has more sinister plans. Plenty of drinking and dialogue later and a show down involving scissors ends the play. With reveals of favoritism from the faculty for sleeping with one of them turns the established girls against each other. Lexi ends the show with one less eye and Rachel has nothing.

[Anthony · Rating 4 out of 5]

so good

[Sophie Pitsch · Rating 5 out of 5]

UGH phenomenal
can’t believe i know the person who wrote this

[Evie Dittmann · Rating 4 out of 5]

the characters were all really interesting and very real

[Jules Bella · Rating 4 out of 5]

very cute!! loved the dialogue but the ending felt a bit of a strange take

[Brooks Gillespie · Rating 5 out of 5]

yeah. yeah….will be informing Alliance a bunch. That was insane. so fast paced, so engrossing. wowowow.

[Zoe · Rating 3 out of 5]

was kinda dumb but kinda fun 😛

[tatum]

exactly!!!!

[Steph Baker · Rating 3 out of 5]

read this to prepare for an audition. very interesting. i’m excited to see it staged.

[Isabelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

so solid until the ending of the play. I do wish it had gone differently or had a more suitable ending but still pretty good nonetheless.

[Joey · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm gonna go method and stab my eyes out

[colin :) · Rating 4 out of 5]

need to be in this like i need water

[Ainsley Powers · Rating 2 out of 5]

theatre for theatre kids (also kind of insane)