Chaotic
The Sh!tfaced team is back once more on the Fringe stage with an abbreviated adaptation of the Bard’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream focusing on the lovers. In this crowd pleasing production, five trained actors take to the stage with one designated drunkard every night. The result, chaos. As their fellow actors must navigate the drunkard’s unintentional improvisation, the resultant story takes a bit of a winding path. Impossible to recreate, this fever dream of a production had the audience in stitches from start to finish. Our designated drunkard for the evening was Hermia, which quickly became apparent. In a valiant attempt at staying the course, the story began much to be expected—that is until fair Hermia launched the script into the ether.
Audience participation featured heavily from the beginning of the festivities as several members of the front rows, lovingly referred to as the “ vom zone, ” were provided with roles and interactive props. These unexpected additions provided challenges for the designated drunkard and the cast alike. Beware the front row if engagement is not your style. These additions and challenges demanded a significant cutting of the script resulting in more of a heavily reduced series of lovers scenes than the true narrative. Even then, there was not enough time to properly see the scenes through. In a hasty wrap up, the resultant couples were swapped, much to the dismay of Puck who served as guide throughout the narrative.
This show delivers on its premise and is understandably acclaimed for its hilarity. This new and engaging way to experience the Bard exemplifies the Fringe in its chaotic and experimental nature. As the piece is different every night it is hard to consistently pin down thoughts regarding the effectiveness of the piece. It’s funny, engaging, and a textbook example of artists doing the most with a simple premise. The only true drawback to this piece is the inconsistency inherent in the performance and the slight misnomer regarding the content structure. How little of the bard’s narrative can be included to still be marketed as one of his works?
The Sh!tfaced team performs nightly at 9:15 at Underbelly – McEwan Hall and lasts one hour and ten minutes.