Chicago Reader - Somewhat Recommended
"...If you're the type of person who's into alternate histories, cosplay, and world-building, there's plenty of grist for the mill here. Still, I couldn't help coming back to the thought throughout the show that I'd rather be seeing some Shakespeare. I suppose there's power and value in making something that reminds us of a better, more resonant other thing. But in the end, the effect, at least in this case, is a desire to go back to the source rather than to see a remake."
Chicago Stage and Screen - Recommended
"...What if you had the power to foresee a war? An extremely violent and deadly one, that would be
fought on home soil. Would you try to root out the cause and prevent it from happening?
Three young druidesses of ancient Scotland have the power to mix potions and cast spells that
give them glimpses of the future, as well as the ability to question its inhabitants, both living and
dead.
Shakespeare’s Weird Sisters are at the center of Evan M. Jackson’s reframing of Macbeth—he
also directs –and many of the play’s famous scenes unfold around them."
Around The Town Chicago - Recommended
"...Nobly directed by artistic director Evan Jackson, “What the Weird Sisters Saw” is a highly creative reimagination of Shakespeare’s “The Tragedy of Macbeth”, as performed by the Idle Muse Theatre Company. The weird sisters are akin to the three witches/spirits who open Shakespeare’s play and return throughout the text. In both plays, these witches could be thought to exist in the haze and fog of the unconscious mind, and they appear to several characters like Macbeth (Joel Thompson), Lady Macbeth (Mara Kovacevik), and Banquo (Troy Schaeflein). Often a foil for various characters’ thoughts, the sisters are largely Macbeth’s confidantes, who comfort him and reassure him when he chooses the course of his actions."
Chicago Theatre Review - Recommended
"...Told from the point of view of the Three Witches, audiences will experience a brand new perspective of MACBETH. In Evan Jackson's rewrite of Shakespeare's supernatural tragedy, we meet the three Weird Sisters who live both in the magical realm and in the real world. They travel back and forth with ease, viewing events that are actually taking place, as well as occurrences that have yet to happen. This juxtaposition of the plot can be disconcerting and confusing but, by the pricking of my thumbs, this play, with all its shady characters, double-dealing conspiracy, bloody murders and violent swordplay is nothing, if not exciting."
Buzznews.net - Somewhat Recommended
"...The script was extremely dense and might benefit from judicious editing. At times I felt the actors were almost tripping over their own tongues in their effort to deliver every word at a brisk (not to say breakneck) pace.
Perhaps Jackson, with text & dialect coach Carrie Hardin, could address all these matters by slowing everything down just a wee bit. The occasional judicious 1-2 second pause would give my poor old brain a chance to travel between then and now, between male and female."
The Fourth Walsh - Recommended
"...WHAT THE WEIRD SISTERS SAW is a montage of snippets from the Scottish play interspersed with the witches' interpretations -and often misinterpretations- to what is going on. Although tension is missing because of the original play's well-known outcome, Assistant Director and Violence Designer Libby Beyreis effectively punctuates the story with abrupt clashes of fighting. As the sisters muse and debate the visions, Beyreis brutally attacks keeping inhumanity as a foregone conclusion."
Third Coast Review - Recommended
"...Reminiscent of the Three Fates of Greek mythology and famous for their incantation, “Double, double, toil and trouble,” the weird sisters of Macbeth are an iconic trio. But what does the world look like from the perspective of these prophets?"
Splash Magazine - Not Recommended
"...The opaque plot is not helped by the script's language, which attempts to evoke the general feel, if not the specific meter, of Shakespeare. This is probably a fool's errand for any writer, but inconsistency between contemporary and Shakespearean speech in artistic director Evan Jackson and Tristan Brandon's script feels particularly disjointed. Furthermore, What the Weird Sisters Saw would be absolutely incomprehensible to anyone who does not already have fairly extensive knowledge of the plot and characters of Macbeth."
