[star rating = 2/5]
“It’s much better shitfaced, don’t you think?” I’m not convinced.
Five classically trained Shakespearean actors, one of whom had supposedly drunk ¾ of a bottle of Tequila, among other things, take to the stage at McEwan Hall; this year the Magnificent Bastard Productions have returned to the Edinburgh Fringe with a version of Hamlet, which is quite different to the original text. Unfortunately, I didn’t enjoy their take on it as much as I’d hoped.
The cast whizz through the plays text, inviting, or dragging, a dedicated audience member on-stage alongside them to play a supporting role, and a lot of the plot is lost to silliness and jokes. Naturally, the promise of Shitfaced Shakespeare isn’t that there will be a seamless or even coherent production of the Bard’s tale however the element of the improv from the chosen drunk of the evening felt a bit over-rehearsed, and I found myself questioning whether or not the performance was just that – a performance.
Water pistols, an Inflatable banana, and an inflatable woman were among the props used to lighten up this chaotic production on Monday evening. Perhaps it was simply bad luck that I chose this particular performance to see, on the 13th day of the month.
