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SH!T-FACED A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM

★★★★

Leicester Square Theatre

ReviewsAlex Stevenson, Andrew AB Photography, Auriol Reddaway, Beth-Louise Priestley, Charlie Keable, Eugene Evans, James Murfitt, John Mitton, Julia Bird, Leicester Square Theatre, Lewis Ironside, Lorna Jean Costumes, Natalie Boakye, Nicola Jones, Princess Donnough, Sh!t Theatre, SH!T-FACED A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM, Shakespeare, Stacey Norris, STEPHANIE SIMPSON, Tom Williamsthespyinthestalls

SH!T-FACED A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM at Leicester Square Theatre

★★★★

“With the actors all multi-rolling throughout the run, each performance feels fresh – packed with improv and lightning quick reactions”

Sh!tfaced Shakespeare is, by now, a well-known commodity. This year marks their eleventh year at Edinburgh Fringe, their fourteenth year as a company and firms them as a staple of the Leicester Square Theatre. I’ve been to several of these shows and they’re always a riot. It’s silly and hyper-sexualised and sometimes barely Shakespeare but it’s always a great night out.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream works well paired with chaotic drunken energy and lustful thrusting. It’s what the Bard would’ve wanted.

The concept is simple. It’s a straight(ish) Shakespeare play, but one actor is very drunk. Chaos and hilarity ensues.

It doesn’t rely entirely on the gimmick. There were laughs beyond the drunken actor, with quick improv and some clever word play in the scripted moments. Though obviously the most fun is had with the person who’s ‘sh!tfaced’.

What stops these shows from being unbearably cringey is the chemistry between the performers. There’s real love there, and this felt particularly true for this performance. Beth Louise Priestly was drunk, and consistently slipped into using the actors’ real names, usually to say how much she loved them. They feel like a group of loving pals, whom it’s fun to watch have fun. They’re also all very funny.

With the actors all multi-rolling throughout the run, each performance feels fresh – packed with improv and lightning quick reactions. Julia Bird doesn’t lean too much into the pixie realm as Puck, she is full of laddish energy and bawdy one-liners. Stacey Norris is a hilariously tragic Helena and James Murfitt is a gloriously mischievous Oberon. Charlie Keable can barely keep a straight face as he whips out pun after pun and Eugene Evans plays a delightfully strait-laced Demetrius with an impressive codpiece. Natalie Boakye holds it all together as a joyous and energetic compare – who still manages to have an eye out for health and safety (and the run time).

With a show that’s different every night, packed full of ridiculous over the top fun, you could go to this every night and not get bored.

SH!T-FACED A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM at Leicester Square Theatre

Reviewed on 18th July 2024

by Auriol Reddaway

Photography by Andrew AB Photography

Previously reviewed at this venue:

RACHEL PARRIS: POISE | ★★★★ | June 2024

SH!T-FACED SHOWTIME: A PISSEDMAS CAROL | ★★★★★ | November 2023

THE AYES HAVE IT! THE AYES HAVE IT! | ★★★★ | November 2023

SH!T-FACED SHAKESPEARE®: MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING | ★★★★★ | July 2023

SHIT-FACED SHAKESPEARE: ROMEO & JULIET | ★★★★ | July 2022

A PISSEDMAS CAROL | ★★★★★ | December 2021

SH!T-FACED MACBETH | ★★★★★ | July 2021

SH!T-FACED

SH!T-FACED

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Sh!t-faced Shakespeare: Much Ado About Nothing

★★★★★

Leicester Square Theatre

ReviewsAB Photography, Auriol Reddaway, Beth-Louise Priestley, Charlie Keable, Chris Lane, Flora Sowerby, Holly Durkin, Jamie Sandersfield, John Mitton, Julia Bird, Leicester Square Theatre, Lewis Ironside, Lorna Jean Costumes, Matthew Seager, Nicola Jones, Robbie Capaldi, Sh!t Theatre, Sh!t-faced Shakespeare®: Much Ado About Nothing, Stacey Norris, William Shakespearethespyinthestalls

SH!T-FACED SHAKESPEARE: MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING at the Leicester Square Theatre

★★★★★

“It is utterly chaotic, but that’s the glory of it”

A staple of the Edinburgh fringe, the premise of Sh!t-faced Shakespeare is simple: it’s a traditional Shakespeare performance (with liberties taken for comic purposes, of course) where one performer is, for want of a better word, sh*t-faced. That performer rotates every night, as do the cast, and the roles. No two performances will ever be the same…

Don’t go to this if you’re expecting a genuine production of Much Ado, it’s more like a crazed improvised performance, with chunks of Shakespeare loosely hanging it together.

Luckily, the sober performers are also packing in the gags and the quick improv. There is a risk with the concept that when the drunk performer isn’t on stage, the audience is left merely watching a Shakespeare play, and maybe not a great performance of it. However, this is not the case with this troupe – a running bit about Benedick having chlamydia, quick one-liners about choir boys and priests, dragging an audience member into the fray – this cast (and director Stacey Norris) know what they’re doing and do it well.

It is utterly chaotic, but that’s the glory of it. When things go wrong (and they do, often) it is part of the fun. Mics cut out, parts of the set (designed by Nicola Jones) are thrown from the stage, costumes fall apart, it all makes it more ridiculous, and more joyous.

A crucial role is played by the compare, for us it was Beth-Louise Priestley, who is on hand to keep the show ticking over, much to the horror of the drunk performer (Flora Sowerby) who seems mostly to want to monologue about the beauty of beards. Priestley runs around, mopping up spills, gathering Sowerby back from the audience, where she’s escaped, and blowing an air horn when things get too messy. There are times when this isn’t enough, and the chaos takes over, people talking over one another and all aiming to grab the spotlight. Most of the time though, it works well. Very well.

Sowerby shines as a drunk Beatrice, but the rest of the cast are also very strong. Holly Durkin and Matthew Seager make a very sweet Hero and Claudio, and Chris Lane is a deliciously evil Don John. John Mitton is a particularly quick Benedick, who manages to keep character, even while delivering witty one-liners. Stacey Norris delights as Leonata, bringing a real joy and feminist flavour to a usually boring part.

7pm is quite early for this sort of show, it feels like it could’ve been in a later slot, but no one seems to mind and the roars from the audience demonstrate that even on a Wednesday at 7pm, people are very up for this.

Reviewed on 12th July 2023

by Auriol Reddaway

Photography by AB Photography

Previously reviewed at this venue:

Shit-Faced Shakespeare: Romeo & Juliet | ★★★★ | July 2022

A Pissedmas Carol | ★★★★★ | December 2021

Sh!t-Faced Macbeth | ★★★★★ | July 2021

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