Sh!t-faced Shakespeare, the show with a blend of an entirely serious Shakespeare play, and the antics of an entirely shitfaced actor, has returned to the Melbourne International Comedy Festival this year for more inebriated antics at the Athenaeum Theatre. Sh!t-faced Shakespeare’s 2025 season takes on one of renowned writer William Shakespeare’s most famous comedic plays, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, in a way that will leave you gasping for air.
Sh!t-faced Shakespeare involves a small rotating cast of classically trained actors, who perform an improvised version of one of Shakespeare’s most well-known plays, whilst one member of the cast (undisclosed to the audience prior) is completely inebriated. As a lover of the Bard, I was very eager to see how the alcohol-affected brain of an actor would impact the already hilariously enjoyable tale.
For those less privy, A Midsummer Night’s Dream is a story of love and magic where 4 Athenians; Demetrius, Lysander, Helena and Hermia run away to the forest in a fight for love, where the fairy, Puck, manipulates their affections.
The show begins with the Compère, the voice of reason for the drunken actor, and the sole person responsible for attempting to keep the story and cast on track. He proudly presents what the intoxicated actor has consumed in the 4 hours leading up to the show. In this case, it was an impressive x1 White Claw, x4 Beers and an entire bottle of Sauvignon Blanc.
But it doesn’t end there. Selecting willing volunteers from the crowd to wield an instrument (a gong and confetti cannon), the drunken actor is never safe. The Compère informs the audience that in whatever moment they feel deserves it, they are welcome to play their instrument as demand for another alcoholic beverage to be consumed. Each instrument can only be played once, so both the cast and other audience members are left in heavy anticipation of just when that moment may be. One lucky member of the audience, required to have quick reflexes, is the guardian of the bucket. I’m sure you can guess what that may be on standby for…
Lights up and action! The actors enter, with one (Lysander) slightly wobblier than the rest, holding a beaming grin that extends from ear-to-ear, contradicting the emotion that this opening scene required. Thus begins the best telling of A Midsummer Night’s Dream I’ve ever seen. The forest consisted of Decepticon enemies from Transformers, a moon made of cottage cheese, a Shoey (supported by chants to chug from the crowd) and an incredible rendition of Lou Bega’s ‘Mambo No. 5’ for a little bit of Helena in Lysander’s life.
Sh!t-faced Shakespeare is a show that you can see again and again, with every experience being unique from the last. It is a 50-minute masterclass of quick-thinking improvisation and humour that successfully displays the cast’s incredible ability to think on their feet, recover or derail a scene, and create rhyme from a drunken tangent made only seconds prior. This show brings Shakespeare back with the highbrow experiences you often see today, but to the jest and fun as it was originally intended.
Thespian or not, Sh!t-faced Shakespeare is and has something in it for everyone. With pop culture references, sexual innuendos, audience participation and of course, classic Shakespeare; from beginning to end – my cheeks hurt from laughter. I prayed for a break just so I could catch my breath. From the heads bowed in laughter throughout the theatre, I could see that many others felt the same.
Sh!t-faced Shakespeare‘s A Midsummer Night’s Dream is currently playing as part of the 2025 Melbourne International Comedy Festival at the Athenaeum Theatre until April 20.
For more information and ticketing, visit:
https://www.comedyfestival.com.au/browse-shows/a-midsummer-night-s-dream
https://www.instagram.com/shitfacedshakespeare
Photography supplied.