Having played many years at the festival, as well as running in London’s West End, Sh!t Faced Shakespere remains a real crowd favourite. Its unique blend of performing one of Shakespere’s best-known plays, whilst injecting silliness and improvised moments from a drunken cast member, allows it to remain a staple at the festival. Even if Shakespeare isn’t your thing, you will still appreciate the comedic skills of the performers and are in for a night where truly anything can happen.
The concept is that a group of actors performs Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing but the twist is that one of the performers has been drinking and performs on stage intoxicated. What follows is just over an hour of actors' dialogue being interrupted and things going wrong with lines forgotten and the more drunk the actor gets, the wilder things become. You also see the actor taking a drink on stage a few times throughout the show, and the other actors doing their best to support the actor to carry on performing. The other actors try their best to proceed with the story, but they are always looking over their shoulders and preparing for the many unexpected twists and turns that the drunken performer will throw at them.
The show's funniest moments are when you can see the drunken performer trying their best to keep it together, but either through an incident like bumping into a set piece, or finding someone’s line incredibly funny, the whole thing falls apart quickly and spirals into chaos. The scripts and costumes are very much in line with the story and period and the attention to detail is great. Additionally, there are a lot of funny lines and the audience for the most part were laughing along throughout the show.
For a unique blend of Shakespeare and drunken improvised comedy, this is the show to see!
This show has been rated ☆☆☆
Sh!t Faced Shakespeare: Much Ado About Nothing runs at Pleasance at EICC until the 25th of August. Book tickets here: https://www.pleasance.co.uk/event/sht-faced-shakespearer-much-ado-about-nothing
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