Pride month got a fabulous kickstart courtesy of the Bard at the ShakesQueer Shakespearean Pub Crawl - Pride Edition, a benefit for Shakespeare Exchange and Immigration Equality that took place on June 4, 2016. The afternoon-long event had vibrant performers like Juicy Liu and Elizabeth Neptune, revisit some of the Bard’s most beloved scenes, by giving them a queer twist. The festivities began at Boxers in Hell’s Kitchen where Juicy Liu and Jaxxon Bollocks did a scene from The Taming of the Shrew. As directed by Cristina Lundy, the dynamic between Katerina and Petruchio, played by Liu and Bollocks respectively, became something altogether more special. The former, all rage and sass, the latter pure desire personified. The people gathered at the pub (Boxers and every subsequent bar) added a wonderful energy to the occasion, making their excitement evident by the number of laughs and hollers each scene elicited.
What was so remarkable, was to see how well Shakespeare’s works adapted to the slight differences, and how the directors of each scene smartly kept away from merely trying to sensationalize the “alternative” elements. For example, few Romeo and Juliet balcony scenes have been so sexually charged and sensitive, as the one performed by Vince Gatton and Matt Shingledecker at The Gaf. As Gatton made his way among the crowd making everyone swoon (were we flowers, spirits, voyeurs, all of the above?), it was impossible not to wish for a whole production starring these two.
At Industry, Liu once again stole the scene in a moment from A Midsummer Night’s Dream, which saw Aussie DJs and bi-curious characters mingle in the middle of a dancefloor passing as a magical forest. And in all seriousness, what is a dancefloor if not a magical forest? The festivities ended at Therapy where a jolly Falstaff was joined by surprise characters in a scene from Henry IV, part 2. The work of all the directors involved - the aforementioned Lundy, Kim Krane, Carey Van driest and Ross Williams - was a great reminder that Shakespeare should be done, and often, by people who can breathe new life into plays we think we know so well.
If anything other than it being a great cause and a great time, ShakesQueer Shakespearean Pub Crawl - Pride Edition served as a pitch for modern theatre companies to try out different things, to go outside the box. Shakespeare wasn’t meant to be stuffy, politically correct and joyless, it was meant to be liberated, refreshing and musical. And each scene performed by the troupe on June 4th could have made anyone feel it was the very first time anyone had heard the words coming out of the performers’ mouths. If one was inclined to suggest a pub crawl implies inebriation and a questionable judgment, let it be said that this reviewer had nothing but seltzer water and lime, and still left the show feeling drunk in love.
For more information on Shakespeare Exchange click here.
