Caroline Orlando (left) plays Rachel, and Natasja Naarendorp (right) is her best friend, Lexi, in a scene from Sophie McIntosh’s Macbitches.
Sophie McIntosh’s Macbitches is proof positive that some of the most exhilarating theater in New York City is being staged in Off-Off-Broadway houses. McIntosh’s 85-minute piece dramatizes what happens when Hailey (Marie Dinolan), a freshman acting major, is unexpectedly cast in the plum role of Lady Macbeth, and Rachel (Caroline Orlando), the queen bee of a college theater department in Minnesota, is left with big bruises on her ego.
Seamlessly directed by Ella Jane New, this dark comedy with a Mean Girls vibe explores the toxic underbelly of ambition and the way fledgling thespians employ Shakespeare as a springboard for personal aggrandizement.
The plot is airtight. As the lights come up, Rachel is sitting on a couch in her college apartment, alternating her attention between her needlepoint and her phone. Her roommate and best friend, Lexi (Natasja Naarendorp), is close by, holding her phone and angrily jabbing at the screen to refresh her inbox.
Morgan Lui (left) plays Cam, and Laura Clare Browne (right) is her friend, Piper, in McIntosh’s dramedy. Photographs by Wesley Volcy.
Two other upperclassmen, Cam and Piper (Morgan Lui and Laura Clare Brown, respectively), are anxiously talking on their phones in spots downstage (the lighting is by Michael Abrams). They are all waiting for an email announcing the cast for Macbeth.
But the notification that arrives is flabbergasting. Lexi bellows: “Hailey Hudson? Hailey Hudson?! Who the f---?” Lexi, Piper and Cam are equally dumbfounded, wondering how a freshman acting major could have “the stuff” to play the power-hungry queen.
Still, Brown’s sincere and caring Piper decides to bring the naïve Hailey to a celebration at Rachel and Lexi’s, where the freshman finds herself a lamb among wolves. It’s not long before Hailey is up to her ears in college gossip and downing more shots of liquor than she can handle.
McIntosh reportedly penned Macbitches as a riff on Shakespeare’s blood-soaked tragedy and “as a unique subversion of the classic Mean Girls tropes,” but her play stands on its own as a study of five wannabe actresses who hope to make a name for themselves.
“Under New’s direction, the ensemble acting is better than good. ”
The play’s title is a portmanteau, with its first half, “mac,” referring to Shakespeare’s Macbeth and the second half, “bitches,” nodding to the play’s biting humor and interrogation of misogyny and abuse within theatrical institutions. Does Macbitches point any accusing fingers at the two male professors, who remain offstage for the entire play? Not at all. These five young women are in the know about the #MeToo movement. But their attention is more focused on their acting, not dishing the dirt on any “showmances.”
Under New’s direction, the ensemble acting is better than good. Each of the actresses delineates her character’s traits sharply. Orlando invests Rachel with the poise and confidence of a young diva. Naarendorp brings the loyalty of a spaniel to Lexi.
Lui interprets Cam as a tough cookie who has a tender heart that passionately beats for both her offstage girlfriend and Rachel. “I was just a stupid-ass little servant,” she says. “But Rachel took me under her wing, got everyone to stop busting my balls. I had a huge crush on her for a little while.”
Brown’s repressed Piper is the voice of reason, and perhaps intuition as well. For, as she confides to Hailey: “When I gave you your tour last spring, I knew I had a good feeling about you, and now look at you! Out there getting the lead your first semester.”
Demonstrating a fencing move, Naarendorp plays Lexi, and Browne is her friend, Piper, admiring her skill.
Dressed by Sydni Rivero in a chic hot-pink outfit, Dinolan’s Hailey impressively walks the tightrope between being a rising star and target of jealousy, veering from ingenue (she doesn’t know Broadway does both musicals and dramas) to sober-minded artist (she quickly discovers that some fellow acting majors would like to see her six feet under). But it’s not just Dinolan’s ability to insinuate herself into the persona of ingenue or shrewd young woman in a blink, it’s her genuine charisma that catches fire onstage. Her Hailey, even when under the influence of who-knows-how-many-shots-of-vodka, looks utterly radiant.
The designers keep all the production values in sync. Hughes’s realistic set (featuring theatrical posters and inspirational quotes on the walls), Abrams’s protean lighting, and Gardella’s agile fight direction are all seen up close in the Chain Theatre’s black box.
Macbitches is a play that’s likely to linger in one’s mind long after the summer fades. Although the whole production is excellent, it’s the star turn by Dinolan that glows brightest.
Macbitches runs at the Chain Theatre (312 W. 36th St.) through Sept. 10. Evening performances are at 8 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday; matinees are at 3 p.m. Sundays. For tickets and more information, visit www.chaintheatre.org.
