The Death of the Swan
Written by Maddie Natoli and RJH; Directed by Maddie Natoli
Chain Theater | 312 W 36th Street New York, NY 10018
April 8, 10th, 11th, 12, and 13th
Theatre festivals are like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're going to get.
The FRIGID Festival reflects approximately 65 shows will run in rep at 5 different venues. Shows will run a bit under an hour. There will be one-acts and bits of longer works in progress; dramas, comedies and musicals.
The Chain Theatre’s Mainstage, a stark black box space, becomes an elegant void—a perfect canvas—for the New York City debut of The Death of the Swan. This dance piece, featuring Maddie Natoli as the iconic ballerina Anna Pavlova, offers a delicate and haunting homage to the famed prima ballerina who once took The Dying Swan on a worldwide tour in the early 20th century.
There are three artists on stage: the violinist as Death (Kat Squires), the dancer as Death (Mason Williams), and Anna (Maddie Natoli), who is being stalked by death, accompanied by death, even flirting with death. This is a dance to the death. Though it could easily drift into the somber, it instead becomes utterly captivating—as we, the audience, take the role of voyeurs, watching Anna navigate this intimate, inevitable duet.
Natoli is a beautiful ballerina, performing The Dying Swan not as a historical re-creation but as a deeply personal act of storytelling. Her transitions are striking, marked by the subtle costume shifts—ballet slippers to pointe shoes, dancer to prima—as Dancer Death subtly alters form and presence. In these moments, time blurs, and we move from legacy to memory to afterlife.
The production makes maximum use of the stage, with creative staging choices that play masterfully with shadows and darkness. These elements add an atmospheric tension—each flicker of light or dip into blackness enhances the storytelling, making us feel as though we’re inside Anna’s final dreamscape.
The piece is more than a homage—it’s a meditation on transformation. By splitting the role of Death between movement and music, the creative team creates a textured, multifaceted presence that surrounds Anna without ever fully overtaking her.
The minimal staging allows body, breath, and stillness to take center stage. In this quiet space, the past and present swirl together—one final flutter of feathers before stillness.
Click HERE for tickets.
Review by Malini Singh McDonald.
Published by Theatre Beyond Broadway on April 11th, 2025. All rights reserved.