DramaLondonReview

Sh!t-faced Shakespeare®: Much Ado About Nothing – Leicester Square Theatre, London

Adam Stevenson

Writer: William Shakespeare with adaptations by Rev. Lewis Ironside

Director: Stacey Norris

Drunken Shakespearian performances are nothing new in the West End. There was a time when some of the most celebrated actors in the country could be found inebriated in the Coal Hole before dragging themselves to their respective theatres. Sh!t-faced Shakespeare® takes this ancient tradition and creates a show around it.

A rotating cast of seven performers put on an abridged production of a Shakespeare play, but one of them has been drinking for four hours before curtain up. There’s a compere, who explains the concept to the audience and reveals the drunken actor’s current empties. Their main job is to shepherd the drunken actor around, prevent injury and try and keep the show on track. The other performers try to carry on as best as possible, though some are lured off the righteous path towards mucking about with the drinker.

At the moment, the company are performing Much Ado About Nothing, Shakespeare’s comedy of hate-to-love, featuring the witty and bickering Benedick and Beatrice. Flora Sowerby’s Beatrice had been given the booze for this performance. At first, she’s a little doddery, mumbling to herself and watching the other actors but as the evening continues, she grows in confidence. It’s less a case of watching someone bravely attempt a Shakespeare role with impaired faculties and more of watching someone veer off in every direction.

Beth-Louise Priestly, the compere finds her pleas for “more Shakespeare in this Shakespeare play” unheard as Sowerby takes great delight in paraphrasing Beatrice’s speeches as brashly as she can. Encouraged by audience response, she runs out into the auditorium, bounces on foam codpieces and has her skirt fall off twice. Amazingly, her Beatrice still feels like a legitimate portrayal of the character – if a little extreme.

Even more amazing is how the other actors keep going. John Mitton’s Benedick has some of the swagger found in other Benedicks, even as his Beatrice licks his face. Claudio and Hero are sweet(ish) and innocent(ish) even as Beatrice persists in asking them about their chlamydia. Chris Lane’s Don Jon is played with a delightful posh-swaggery-camp menace which makes his scenes fun even when he monologues alone. The parts are played large and are frequently upstaged by their drunken cast mate, but weirdly, a recognisable production happens even as it is subverted.

Being drunk even gives Sowerby the freedom to ask questions of the play. Beatrice has been tricked into love with Benedick, is it real love? Does it even count? Is it just a case of throbbing loins? Even more scathing is her condemnation of Claudio. He’s been affianced to her cousin, Hero, but has been tricked into thinking she has slept around. Instead of dealing with the problem quietly, he condemns her at the altar as damaged goods, sending her into a swoon. Believing her to be dead, he agrees to make amends by marrying another cousin – who is of course Hero. The two go off to be wed and this is presented as a happy ending for them. Is it? What sort of person has Claudio revealed himself to be? A smart staging of the play can ask these questions subtly through the staging, but a drunk performer with the license to go off-script can bring them up front.

For all the laughter in the evening, there is one central issue with Sh!t-faced Shakespeare®, and that is the attitude to drunkenness. The compere psychs the audience up with a dramatic reveal of how much the drunken actor has already had, and provides ways for the audience to demand they drink more. But the compere is also responsible for keeping the drunken person in line, nudging them onto the script, telling them to stop using a certain swear word, shutting down an off-the-cuff reference to a current scandal. As such, the compere is both egging on drunken misbehaviour and trying to create limits to that misbehaviour. It’s an odd position to be in and it sits awkwardly.

More awkward is the position of the drunken actor themselves. They are not merely a drunk person going on stage to play a part that happens all the time. They are the ‘star’ of the evening and their drunken behaviour is the show’s main pull and source of energy. Because the actor is getting drunk in order to be silly and chaotic on stage, there’s a limit to the authenticity of their drunkenness. Whilst it was pretty clear that Sowerby is pretty drunk, how much of what she does is a result of that drink? How much had she planned beforehand? How much is it Sh!t-faced Shakespeare® and how much is it Show-off Shakespeare®?

Runs until 9 September 2023

The Reviews Hub Score

A Sh!tshow, but not a sh!t show.

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The Reviews Hub - London

The Reviews Hub London is under the editorship of Richard Maguire. The Reviews Hub was set up in 2007. Our mission is to provide the most in-depth, nationwide arts coverage online.

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