Dzieci Theater Company Stages Premiere of MAKBET, Now thru 10/18

Dzieci Theater Company has announced the World Premiere of their site-specific MAKBET, adapted from Shakespeare's Macbeth and directed by Matt Mitler. MAKBET begins performances tonight, October 1 for a limited engagement through Sunday, October 18. Press Opening is Sunday, October 4 at 4 PM. The performance schedule is Thursday - Saturday at 7:00 PM, Sunday at 4 PM. This site specific performance takes place at Sure We Can in Bushwick (219 McKibbin Street, L to Montrose Avenue). Tickets are $10 at the door.

Dzieci's Gypsy tribe greets you with song and dance, drinks and divination, then embarks on their wild, whirlwind of a ritual. Their gypsy take on Shakespeare's ageless tale of greed, corruption, omens and foul deeds, comes alive through the unflinching performance of a handful of actors who take turns spontaneously trading off parts at the drop of a hat (literally!), creating an inescapable level of immediacy and danger.

Employing haunting folk songs and chants from Eastern Europe, Dzieci explores (and explodes!) the very essence of theatre and storytelling in their exuberant rendition of Macbeth.

The core cast features Megan Bones (Fool's Mass at LaMama), Yvonne Brecht (Devils of Loudun and Fool's Mass at LaMama), Ryan Castalia, Felicity Doyle, Timothy Garlid, Golan (Ragnarok at Irondale Center), Jesse Hathaway (Ragnarok at Irondale Center), Su Hendrickson, Polina Ionina, and Matt Mitler.

Costumes are by Karen Hatt. The production designer is Matt Mitler.

Matt Mitler (adaptor, director, performer) was initially trained in Humanistic and Existential Psychology, before discovering the healing potential of theatre. He considers his therapeutic study with such masters as R.D. Laing and Carl Rogers to be equal to his theatrical study with Jerzy Grotowski and Eugenio Barba. Combining these two pursuits, he began to lead workshops in a variety of settings including Hutchings Psychiatric Center (NY); The National Theatre School of Sweden; and the graduate school of The University of Psychology of Warsaw, where, in 1980, his essay, Art and Therapy was published in the anthology, New Directions in Psychotherapy.

To date, Matt has designed and directed over 70 theatrical productions; among them, his own adaptation of Nathaniel West's Miss Lonely Hearts for the 29th Street Repertory Theatre; the critically acclaimed musical Sofrito, featuring The Latin Legends All Stars, for the New Victory Theater; and the apocalyptic epic Dirty Money (also co-author) for Teatr Am Turm in Frankfurt, Germany. He has also staged the works of dozens of solo artists and ensembles at a variety of NYC venues including The Samuel Beckett Theatre, LaMama ETC, The Public Theater. But his primary focus is on Dzieci where he has been director since its inception in 1997. He and Dzieci are featured in the book, Working on the Inside: The Spiritual Life Through the Eyes of Actors by Retta Blaney, and profiled in the current edition of The Encyclopedia of Religion.

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