←Recommendations of macbitches

This play left me gobsmacked. Anyone who has been in a college theatre program has met people just like all the characters in this story, and McIntosh has woven all of the plotting, predictions, and paranoia of Macbeth into her plot. There is manipulation, backstabbing, front-stabbing, and all of the toxicity that can permeate academic theatre. And though they don't feature as characters in the play, the figures of the men in charge who foster this atmosphere loom like Banquo's ghost. The roles are all juicy and the play full of fantastic scenes/monologues for teen to early 20s girls.

McIntosh not only has a viciously sharp ear for the horrors of BFA drama programs and how they replicate themselves between female peers, but also for mean-girl doublespeak, teenaged manipulation, and the vertiginous highs and lows of female friendship. Whip-smart and fast-paced, featuring a well-rounded cast of robust characters that set up all actors to shine, macbitches is a stellar, darkly comical addition to the canon of ensemble pieces for college-aged actresses.

I am always recommending this play to others all the time! It is phenomenal! I always think we need more college theatre like this because it feels so REAL and RAW for young actors to get a hold of. It's full of subtext and wit and sharpness. And it's something so relatable to so many in the theatre world while talking about how much politics are involved in this process. It's theatre like this that puts me on the edge of my seat reading! Brillant stuff!

A savage takedown / homage to pre-professional theatre training programs and the incestuous politics therein. Mclntosh's play is a smart and wickedly funny dark comedy with just enough inside baseball to be a real treat for those of us recovering from undergraduate theatre without alienating the uninitiated.

This darkly funny piece has razor-sharp dialogue, mean-girl momentum, and a wicked downturn for its characters right at the end.

I recently attended a virtual reading of macbitches and it transported me back to my own freshman year of college in the theatre department. McIntosh captures the intensity of young artists hungry for the approval of their professors and the longing to stand out from their peers. This play is tightly written and I hope to see a production of it someday. Highly recommend!

McIntosh captures the nuances of the BFA hierarchy in such precise detail that experiencing this play is like stepping back in time. If you've ever been in a theatre program or even heard about one second-hand, then you know these characters and you've sat around this cheap apartment. The simple setting and rich characters make this the perfect play for any senior project.

McIntosh captures collegiate theatre politics with amazing pinpoint accuracy. The play remains so natural you might forget you're reading a play, yet has so much going on that you can't take your eyes off of it. Every character is no nuanced, making for a perfect ensemble, and every moment leaves you wanting to know what happens, especially with the surprise twist at the end.

YES. A freshman has been cast as Lady Macbeth, and the jealous upperclassmen try to hide their envy as they get to know her. In addition to having pitch-perfect theater major dialogue, this play also touches on how few good roles there are for females in the plays that tend to get done in college. Maybe these girls would be less desperate, jealous, and macbitchy if there were more exciting female roles to go around. That's not an issue in this play, however, where every role would be a treat. What a great show for college-age actors!

I knew from the perfect character descriptions that I was going to love this script, and McIntosh didn’t disappoint! This script has the qualities of a horror flick—on the surface is all the fucked-up politics of your typical drama department, but underneath simmers something darker and more malevolent. The tension builds in such an organic, unnerving way until you get to the ending, which feels simultaneously completely inevitable and totally shocking. With five great roles for female actors, this is a play I’d absolutely love to see up on its feet!