Too drunk to stand, but not too drunk to bust out The Bard.
Normally the theatre is a sacred place, where enraptured audiences watch highly professional actors treat drama with reverence. But when it comes to Sh*t-faced Shakespeare, all that goes out the window – and the results are pretty spectacular. A company of classically-trained Shakespearean actors take the stage for a performance of The Bard’s work, with one caveat: one of the cast members is helplessly, irrevocably, shambolically drunk.
The outcome is really a sight to see – the show must go on, of course, simply working around the swearing, staggering, possibly crying drunkard in one of the lead roles. You’ve never seen Shakespeare like this before (not unless something has gone very wrong at The Globe, of course)!
For instance, you’ve never seen Hamlet performed as a comedy, have you? The presence of a rat-arsed cast member means that Sh*t-face Shakespeare’s summer production will witness something rotten in the state of Denmark (well, more rotten than usual, at least). It runs from June 19th, and you can find tickets here.
Before that, Sh*t-faced Shakespeare will host a riotous rendition of The Taming of the Shrew. In this classic comedy, Katherine and Bianca are battling not just the insidious grip of the patriarchy, but also the forces of extreme inebriation. Beginning on April 17th, it’ll be an absolute hoot – find your tickets here.
However, before they mount a full-scale butchering of The Bard, the Sh*t-faced crew will turn their attention to another literary giant: Charles Dickens. Oliver! With A Twist! features the same rules of inebriation, but with the added complication of showtunes from a whole host of West End classics. And if you thought stumbling over Shakespeare was funny, wait until you see them fumble their way through I’d Do Anything… Catch it from March 27th, and find your tickets here.
The old saying that ‘comedy = tragedy + time’ might still be true, but ‘tragedy + copious tequila’ works just as well for these guys.