SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, June 18, 2024 (Gephardt Daily) — There is a scene toward the end of Mad King Productions’ current drunken Shakespeare production of “The Merry Wives of Windsor” where cast members sporting animal headdresses and tails, some of which have gravitated ’round to the front of their trousers, perform a square dance, whilst other actors rap their lines into handheld mics while a disco ball spins indolently overhead. These are exactly the type of shenanigans you would expect from one of the Bard’s plays (minus the rapping and maybe the disco ball), but with added hilarity and verve because the majority of the cast members have at this point been imbibing for most of the evening.
If you’re not familiar with drunken Shakespeare, well, it’s arrived in Salt Lake City, and judging by the fact that the first two shows of Mad King’s run on Friday and Saturday, June 14 and 15, were sold out, it’s becoming a fixture. The concept originated at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, unsurprisingly, then spread to London. There’s a company called Sh!t-Faced Shakespeare that currently has shows in the English capital, at the upcoming Edinburgh Fringe, and also touring the U.K. and Australia. Ten years ago, the notion arrived in New York in the form of The Drunk Shakespeare Society; that company also has iterations in Chicago, Washington D.C., Phoenix and Houston. The premise both these companies have adopted is that one cast member drinks at least five shots, then goes on to perform while the other actors stay sober. If it’s a two-show day, the same actor drinks at both shows; the audience is also encouraged to imbibe.
Because we are in Utah, Mad King Productions takes on the concept slightly differently. In the venue they are performing at, the Alliance Theater in Trolley Square, only beer and hard seltzers are allowed, so at the beginning of the show, cast members have a beverage, with many shotgunning beers. It is worth noting, though, that they don’t have to imbibe. Then in the first act, the cast continues to drink randomly. There is a Venmo code on the front of each program where audience members can donate $5 to an actor during Act 2, and a stage manager will then deliver a drink to them on stage. Audience members can also partake in a beverage bought at the venue, and light heckling and taking photos is encouraged.
The company also sets each show they do in a different time period, to make it more accessible for those who are not necessarily fans of the Bard. The plays are trimmed, and the actors sometimes improv a line or a “bit.” In 2019, Mad King’s first drunken Shakespeare production, “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” was set in the 1980s, while the 2020 show, “Much Ado About Nothing,” took place in the roaring ’20s and the 2021 show, “As You Like It,” was set in the post-war 1940s. “The Taming of the Shrew” in 2023 occurred in the 1960s, and this year’s show is set in the rhinestone cowboy, dad-rock era of 1979, in Windsor, Texas. (Got to say, I’d be all about a ’90s grunge version of “Hamlet” next year…)
But is it funny? The genius thing about the drunken Shakespeare productions is that they are returning the plays to what they are supposed to be: bawdy, raucous, and very, very funny.
“Our whole motto is bringing Shakespeare back to the groundlings,” artistic director Carleigh Naylor has said in an interview. “Shakespeare had a lot of inappropriate jokes, and it was all for the common man, not the aristocracy.”
I was sitting near the front and turned to look at the other audience members at a couple of points, and they were absolutely engaged and animated — some taking snaps, others timing their Venmo donations for maximum impact so certain actors had to drink more, while others laughed together and heckled. Some “bits” became a group activity as the show went on, such as everyone yelling “my wife” in a flowery Borat accent each time the word “wife” was used.
I personally found that this year’s production succeeded in a slightly different way than last year’s. “The Taming of the Shrew” seemed more about individual performances, with some actors chewing the scenery and swallowing it whole while others, perhaps by necessity, took on the role of straight man or woman. This go around, director Conor Thompson and assistant director Carleigh Naylor really emphasize the ensemble, and the funniest scenes are the ones that occur when most or all of the cast are onstage, such the aforementioned one toward the end of the show. These segments really showcase the chemistry between the actors, and they escalate delightfully until you don’t know where to look because there’s so much silly, inventive stuff going on. There are also definitely actors within the show who make sure they are generous with others and allow them to shine, including the wonderfully named Madman Madriaga (I really hope that’s his real name) as Falstaff (he is also one of the company founders) and Jeffrey Black as Dr. Caius, a Frenchman whose repeated mispronunciation of words is a source of many laughs.
Kudos also must be given to the actors who have done drunken Shakespeare before with Mad King, because they have mastered a talent that is tricky for any actor, which is to remember your lines and blocking and keep the show crisp, but also responding when the audience calls things out. Trust me, it’s really easy to lose your place in a scene when you start listening to the audience’s reactions. A production like this needs both precision and a sense of spontaneity; you can see this combination particularly with Kajsa E. Nelson as Mistress Page, Sara Goldberg as Pistol, and Kami McDonough as Mistress Quickly.
The production values are definitely supporting players; still they are fun and imaginative, and provide a good deal of mileage for the actors to further demonstrate their comic chops. The costume design by Jeffrey Black (he also plays Dr. Caius) was a standout for me across the board. The western wear was snazzy, and he also puts some of the actors in costumes that draw laughs immediately; a perfect example of this is that he dresses himself as Dr. Caius for the majority of the show in a snug navy blue tank top and extremely tight running shorts, with red and white trim, with a French flag at times draped round his loins, matched with a red, white and blue stripe Mark Knopfler-style sweatband and wristbands, pulled-up sport socks and plimsolls. He also wears a frog headband later in the proceedings. I also enjoyed Madriaga’s costumes; at one point he comes on in soaking wet jeans, the back story being he’s dragged himself out of the Thames after being dropped in with Mistress Ford’s laundry (the reality of that situation is that he’d have a lot more detritus on him than just water if he’d been dropped in the Thames, it’s filthy.) Later, he wears a snug little fur vest paired with a bold patchwork shirt. There’s also a lot of comedy potential in the number of fake mustaches and beards onstage at any one time.
The set, designed by James Naylor and built by him and Scout Naylor (yes, Mad King is a bit of a family affair) also serves the show well; it comprises raised staging areas of different heights, with a bar depicted on one side. There’s comedic mileage to be had from the fact that there is one window in the set but three doors, and at times characters use the window to enter and exit rather than any of the doors. The lighting design (uncredited in the program) is straightforward, but effective, and the sound design and music arrangement by Thompson also adds to the mood of the show with plenty of fun, throwback classics.
If I had one gripe about the production, and honestly it’s more of an observation than a gripe, it’s that I didn’t love “Merry Wives” as a play. It tells the story of an out-of-pocket schemer, Falstaff, who arrives in Windsor, where he sets about seducing two well-to-do married women. It’s the perfect hustle; surely one of them will fall for his irresistible charms? But in this neighborhood, wives talk, and they’re about to play some tricks of their own. I did appreciate that the merry wives do get the last laugh in the show, but overall, it is one of Shakespeare’s lesser-regarded works among literary critics. Literary legend is that it was written in 14 days (it has more prose than any other of his plays) at the prompting of Queen Elizabeth I. After watching “Henry IV, Part I,” she asked Shakespeare to write a play depicting Falstaff in love. To me, it’s not one of the Bard’s best, but here’s the thing, if Mad King produces one Shakespeare show a year, that’s one more than a lot of other companies are producing, and they’re doing it well. And it’s inevitable that some will be more appealing for some audience members than others.
The production has just three shows left; it plays this week on Friday and Saturday, June 21 and June 22 at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, June 23 at 3 p.m. only. Tickets are available here; Saturday night is already close to sold out. I highly recommend grabbing some friends and having a bawdy afternoon or evening out; you might even see Shakespeare in a fresh, revitalized light. Mad King’s next show, “Heathers: The Musical,” opens Nov. 8, and auditions will be held July 25 and July 26. For more information, visit the company’s website here.
