Fri 7/24-Sat 8/15
As a former college theater major (thank god, a techie, not an actress), the set-up for Sophie Mcintosh’s 2022 play macbitches has a familiar resonance. In it, the senior queen bee of a university theater program loses the plum role of Lady MacBeth to a (gasp!) first-semester freshman. Ok, it wasn’t QUITE like that in my experience but close: a dedicated senior with a Judy Collins voice who often performed at the 60s folk venue LaCave in Cleveland lost the lead in The Fantasticks, intended by her to be the capstone of her college career, to a rising sophomore. Unhappiness ensued. (I was stage manager.)
One thing macbitches provides is five plum roles for women, a rarity in my day: the innocent freshman Hailey, and the imperious senior Rachel and her three friends who invite Hailey over to “celebrate” her achievement. You can imagine what they plan to “celebrate.” Naturally, a lot of hidden feelings, resentments and fears come pouring out as the women consume alcohol. “The girls interrogate their own sense of ambition as well as the power structures that have shaped their theatrical education,” we’re told. Have things changed in the many decades since I was in school? I’m guessing not really.
The show, directed by Kate Smith, will open at convergence-continuum’s home at The Liminis in Tremont on Friday July 24 and run through Saturday August 15. Go HERE for tickets.