I was told to expect the unexpected, I was told there would be classically trained actors, Shakespeare, Chaos and one very sh!faced actor and my expectations were exceeded!
The Sh!t-faced Shakespeare, Midsummer Night’s Dream by Magnificent Bastard Productions was everything I wanted and more.
The play opened with the Compere, Louise Lee, who immediately engaged the audience and did a fabulous job of keeping said actor – on this date it was Saul Marron as Demetrius who took one (actually several and 3/4 bottle of gin) for the team – under firm control in his drunken debauchery.
You could feel the buzz of the audience as we watched with glee as Hermia (Jessica Brindle), Lysander (Richard Hughes), Helena (Beth-Louise Priestley) and Demetrius (Saul Marron) took to the stage and set the scene.
The delivery of Shakespearean prose was exceptional and to watch the cast improvise around the drunk cast member was absolutely hilarious! Just when we thought this is as good as it can get – stage right, Simi Egbejumi David as Puck, who judging by the audience reaction was a firm favourite!
All of the actors on stage shone! I would love to go back and see each of them drunk and would know that each performance would be completely different.
If you like comedy, chaos, singing, dancing, the danger of an unpredictable drunk and a bit of Shakespeare (so in other words not a miserable git) – go!
