Review: Sh!t-faced Shakespeare at The Athenaeum

Review by Greg Gorton

Sh!t-faced Shakespeare has been pulling off its drunken antics for fifteen years now and, having finally been able to catch them, it was easy to see why. They are in for the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, putting on Midsummer Night’s Dream, and it is a show not to be missed.

Sitting down in the beautiful Athenaeum, the tone for this show is immediately apparent. A beautifully crafted proscenium arch made of curtains, decorated with murals reminiscent of the baudiest of illuminated manuscripts marks the entire set design. It is enough. The MC of the night, best seen as part referee, part director, and part OH&S inspector, sets the audience expectations, and points out just how much the “unknown actor” has already imbibed in the last four hours. If anything, it seems a little light by Australian standards.

The show starts and the drunk among the troupe of five is immediately obvious. The actor changes each night and I had the fortune to watch the character of Helena, the woman ignored. Immediately, she grabs hold of being called a “crow” and refuses to let go. The audience is in rapture as throughout the night she barks like a dog, insists she is from child services, and wakes up saying “I dreamt I was a freelancer”.

All the actors, of course, are brilliant. Not only do they know the carefully crafted adaptation of the play inside and out, but they are also incredible improv actors who run with her jokes even when she isn’t there to join them. While it is difficult to not break character, the joy in this performance is that breaking character is fun.

It’s worth commenting more thoroughly on this adaptation. Midsummer Night’s Dream in sixty minutes is impressive unto itself. In sixty minutes despite the rambling diversions of a drunk actor moreso. As a theatre boffin, though, you might notice quickly that the adaptation has been stitched together in such a way that, whoever the drunk character might be, the craziness will still be as equally present.

The real genius in Sh!t-faced Shakespeare is in something I hadn’t really considered until my friends were raving afterwards about some of the jokes. They were raving at the original jokes, those clever little double-entendres, chances for slapstick, and silly rhyming moments that the bard himself created. I have no doubt that, all sober and performing the full play, this troupe’s Midsummer Night’s Dream would be the best you could see. It’s almost a sneaky little trick, this shortened, gimmicky, version - tricking people into liking Shakespeare. I’m all for it.

There is something to say about the ethical situation of shows such as this. Do they encourage over-drinking? Technically, our medical professions say any kind of drunkenness is unhealthy for us. I would expect swallowing a sword, wounding yourself, and swinging around two stories in the air without a harness are also things your doctor would recommend against. Such is entertainment. However, for those who might be a little worried, you’ll be happy to know that the troupe are quite serious about the safety of their friends and colleagues, and were quick to move at even hints of potential issues. At one stage the actor got only a foot away from the edge of the stage and the MC was at their side in an instant. When they decided to go downstairs to the audience, the MC was there every step of the way. Any time they stumbled, another actor was there. Honestly, all in all, if I was having a big night out I’d want to do so with them.

The hour goes quickly and I’m still not sure how I walked out feeling like I experienced the full primary plot of Midsummer’s, but that is just a testament to this cunning little show. I’m extremely tempted to go again, just to see a different actor take the challenge. I wonder if they do a season pass? Hmmmmm…..