If you like your Shakespeare with a side of bawdy humor and raucous laughter, then head to Davis Square in Somerville for a rollicking good time. The phenomenon of presenting a "distilled" version of a Shakespeare play with one member of the cast in his cups has taken off on both sides of the Atlantic
No doubt in Shakespeare's day, there may have been a few members of his theatrical troupe who trod the boards with some stout or mead under their belt, so this phenomenon is nothing new. The pickled actor attempts to participate in a normal way, but beer goggles often cause him or her to speak the lines and respond to other actors and the audience in some hilarious and unscripted ways.
When I saw the show on Saturday evening, there were many people in the audience who had seen the show before, so it seems to be trending toward becoming a cult classic like "Rocky Horror." Audience participation is definitely on tap - with one audience member given a bugle to blow and another a gong to clang if they sense that the appointed actor is in danger of becoming too sober. The bugle call and the gong clang signal stoppage in action so that the actor may be plied with yet another bottle of beer.
We were treated to a delightful, if somewhat expurgated version of "A Midsummer Night's Dream." The actor chosen to get himself thoroughly plastered was none other than the estimable Michael Underhill in the role of Lysander. He took to the challenged of playing a liquored-up and lubricated Lysander with flair and panache. I will not embarrass young Mr. Underhill by quoting his ex tempore soused soliloquies but I will say that some of them were emitted as epithets that were slightly less than Elizabethan in nature.
Tickets are currently on sale through October 24th. Join the fun and head up to David Square. The prospect of missing out on the fun is a sobering thought.
Magnificent Bastard Productions presents "Shit-face Shakespeare."
Shit-faced Shakespeare Website
Enjoy!
Al
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