Shit-faced Shakespeare – The Merchant Of Venice

The premise is simple – an abridged version of a Shakespeare classic is performed in roughly an hour, one one member of the cast having spent the day leading up to the performance, getting drunk. Sounds like a nightmare for the players, but what it is is an ingenious way of bringing the raucous beer-hall atmosphere of a Tudor theatre to the masses, and ready distraction so that absorbing the classic plot and iambic lines becomes second nature.

This season’s text is The Merchant Of Venice, a comedy (if we ignore the nasty racism) and one of The Bard’s classics. With the inebriated Jack Bence aka Antonio announcing from the off that he was intent on being “difficult”, he proved very good value as a drunk thespian, ingenious in his diversions, although – like many an inebriated friend – trailing off somewhat towards the end after much gusto in the lead-up.

The other players put on a valiant performance, accessible and engaging with a fun immediacy necessitated in part due to cast number limitations, but in chief to the quality of the adaptation and production.

An utterly enjoyable and anarchic evening marrying the establishment with its punk bastard child.

The Warren, 23 May 2016

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