Unsex Me Here @LadyM

A truly innovative and moving piece of theatre. A modern reimagining of Lady Macbeth, the production blends a live performer with multiple on-screen characters in a way that feels effortless. The coordination between the acting, video, lighting, and sound is remarkably precise and creates a completely immersive experience. What begins as one woman's story gradually reveals deeper struggles, hard-won resilience, and unexpected turns that I won't spoil here. The writing is sharp, honest, and often very funny, while the performance is captivating from start to finish. A standout production that proves great storytelling and great technology can work hand-in-hand. Highly recommended.

This show had the bones of something really interesting. Taking Lady Macbeth, famously wanting to be “unsex”ed, and making her a modern working woman with edometriosis and a hysterectomy was compelling and could’ve become something really interesting.

Unfortunately, this character didn’t feel like Lady Macbeth at all. I love an adaptation that isn’t afraid to make changes, but something needs to remain recognizable for the work to be an adaptation instead of an original work. This Lady Macbeth had almost no ambition or backbone, spending most of the play being acted upon with little agency of her own. Macbeth held all of the power in the relationship. I actually think this would’ve worked much better as an original work, as the references to Macbeth were shallow at best and only reminded me of their poor integration.

This play was acted by a solo performer on stage, with other characters acted via video recordings. Conversations between Lady Macbeth and others were sometimes awkward, as the timing wasn’t always correct and left gaps where we waited for the video actor to respond. Each video seemed to slow down the pace of the play and break any building tension. At some point I dreaded seeing Lady Macbeth disappear behind her changing curtain, because I knew it meant yet another interlude of recorded video, sometimes more than one in a row.

That said, what was a pretty slow and uninteresting play picked up at the end. Lady Macbeth’s final monologue, lit by the cold gaze of a ring light and a phone, was the highlight of the show. The writing and the performance were both great here. The final line, especially, was such a gut punch. Had they moved the video montage afterwards to another earlier part in the play, and ended on that line, I could’ve given this a higher rating.

Unsex Me Here @LadyM takes Shakespeare’s Lady Macbeth and places her in a contemporary world of legal careers, public image, and digital relationships. Following Lady M after life altering surgery, Unsex Me Here explores ambition, identity, and the ways the people around us can shape our lives even when they are not physically present. Unsex Me Here’s boldest choice was the inclusion of digital actors. Each of the performers brought a large sense of presence to their roles despite being pre-recorded, and more particularly each actor creating depth surrounding the world that Lady M was living in. However, the production's reliance on digital performance consistently affected the show's pacing, in certain moments it felt closer to watching a film rather than a live theatrical performance, which created a disconnect between Lady M and the audience. While the digitalization of the other characters was bold and creative while discussing the topic of connection and isolation, the show needed more theatrical immediacy. Keri Bennett was particularly effective in some of Lady M’s more reserved and quiet moments, her performance was open, vulnerable and had a sense of restraint that was very compelling. As Lady M’s journey progressed, however, her character arc was under pronounced, that later moments in the play did not feel as emotionally developed as the ones earlier in the play, and relied heavily on thematic resonance. Bennetts establishes an intriguing approach to Lady M, and it would have been interesting to see her play more than her character evolution following the climax of the play. Taken together, Unsex Me Here puts on the table an interesting and contemporary reimagining of William Shakespeare’s more iconic characters

A truly innovative and moving piece of theatre. A modern reimagining of Lady Macbeth, the production blends a live performer with multiple on-screen characters in a way that feels effortless. The coordination between the acting, video, lighting, and sound is remarkably precise and creates a completely immersive experience. What begins as one woman's story gradually reveals deeper struggles, hard-won resilience, and unexpected turns that I won't spoil here. The writing is sharp, honest, and often very funny, while the performance is captivating from start to finish. A standout production that proves great storytelling and great technology can work hand-in-hand. Highly recommended.

This beautiful, creative, heart-wrenching play has it all. If you have ever felt like you can’t live up to the womanhood expected of you — this one’s for you.

Have you ever seen a show about a former Mormon with endometriosis and a dramatic legal career who is also Lady Macbeth?? If not, this is your big chance. This was clever and engaging and moving and funny. Congrats Keri!!!

Very intelligent folding of Shakespeare themes and clever quotes into a story set in our modern culture. Using the screen to reproduce texting and video calls on stage was very well done, and the live actor / video interaction was very engaging. I loved the three witches of TikTok. Also enjoyed the weaving of endometriosis into the Lady Macbeth monologues “Out damn spot” and “unsex me here” will never read quite the same way for me again. Recommended!