Bar(d)‘s tight, clever script by Stephanie Crugnola is both a love letter to Shakespeare and lighthearted goof on him. Shakespeare’s works are given gravitas and honor…and then they’re mocked, because seriously, as the characters at the Butterfly Bar tell each other, there’s no way all of these stories could just wrap up so nicely. Clearly, Crugnola and director, Leah Luna really want the audience to understand the plays and characters they’re poking fun at, which is why each character (Romeo, Juliet, Macbeth, Lady Macbeth, Hamlet, Olivia, and Viola) tells their stories in several ways – through karaoke, through Shakespeare’s words, and through modern language. Instead of using Shakespeare as simply a royalty-free jumping point for comedy like some other groups do, Walking Shadow aims to make Shakespeare accessible and user-friendly.

I mean, if not accessible, what else would we call a Hamlet (Lligany Otaduy) who finishes the “To be or not to be” speech with an audience singalong of Welcome to the Black Parade? Charming? A little silly? Yes. But understood.

The whole production has fun blurring lines as it goes – between life and death, real and imagined, Shakespeare and, uh, not Shakespeare – even Bar(d)‘s ingenious staging, at an open, working bar, in the middle of a public karaoke night, blurs all of the lines we traditionally like to draw between performance and “real life”. It also hooks the audience before any scripted acting has even occurred. Should all plays always have participatory opening acts? Maybe! One minute you’re applauding the stranger singing Girl Crush by Little Big Town while her dog sniffs at other bar patrons, and then suddenly Romeo (Ryan Moore) is kneeling down and mourning Juliet (Josie Reese), as if you’re not in the middle of a crowded east side bar, and he’s so close to you that you could reach out and brush away his tears. The change is shocking and gripping, as any good tragedy should be.

It’s a difficult task to come up with a new take on characters as iconic and well-known as any of Shakespeare’s, but Luna and her cast have done it. Rather than bubbly and lovesick, Olivia (Mindy Rast-Keenan) is bitter at Viola (Chelsea Manasseri). Lady Macbeth (Dennis Perez, in drag) is more Desperate Housewife Evil than Shakespeare Evil. And I have to shout out Lars Maurseth’s Macbeth in particular – his casual, unpretentious take is so markedly different from the usual broody Scottish king that I didn’t even realize who Maurseth was playing until he and Lady M started quarreling. They aren’t necessarily choices that would play in a traditional, full staging, but that’s hardly the point. The point is that Shakespeare is for everyone, including you.

Photo courtesy of Lens of Athena Photography.

Bar(d) played August 16-18, 2024, at the Butterfly Bar at the VORTEX. Visit Walking Shadow Shakespeare Project online or view the Bar(d) program here.