Suddenly Shakespeare - Shakespearaoke Party at the Fringe

Kickin Rad Productions presents

Suddenly Shakespeare

Shakespearaoke Party at the Fringe and Everyone's Invited

Where else can you see a play by William Shakespeare, selected on the day by the audience and performed with no rehearsal by audience volunteers and a supporting cast of improv-trained Shakespearians?

Where else? Honestly, we don't know anywhere either.

But you can definitely see it at Suddenly Shakespeare, on Saturday afternoons during the Fringe at the Gryphon Season (Feb 15, 22 & Mar 1).

"I hope it'll be a bit like a karaoke party," says producer Lyndon Hood, "only classier and slightly less drunken."

Photos by Alison Little, from a November test run of the format.
During the masked ball scene in Much Ado About Nothing. (The unicorn is playing Don Pedro.)
From left – Maggie Cargill, Lyndon Hood, Hedy Manders.

"In a way, it's a traditional approach. We'll be using 'cue scripts' - where the players are given just their own lines with three or four words for a cue. That's the way the Elizabethan actors worked - partly because writing the whole script out by hand was a pain; partly to stop people running off and selling the play to a publisher.

"It'll also keep everyone on their toes.

"And we'll be delivering those cue scripts using smartphones. So really we're bringing an ancient anti-piracy technique to modern technology."

People wanting to perform (we won't make you, you are allowed to just watch) should bring their own internet-capable portable electronic device. We will provide roles, costume, props, and (if the need arises) puppets and/or a plush hobbyhorse unicorn.

Suddenly Shakespeare

Gryphon Theatre

Saturdays at 2pm

Koha

Potential performers should bring a web-capable electronic device if possible.

February 15: A comedy | February 22: A history | March 1: A tragedy.

ENDS

Links:

Twitter: @Shakespearaoke https://twitter.com/shakespearaoke

Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/168166820053423/

From left - Simon McArthur, Lyndon Hood, Jennifer O'Sullivan.

Producer Bio:

Lyndon Hood has performed in more Shakespeare productions than he can conveniently recall and directed a couple, including Measure for Measure and (co-directed) a multimedia Henry V set in a modern news environment.

In Wellington he has mostly been improvising with The Wellington Improvisation Troupe (WIT) - last year as Co-Creative Director. (So he knows a lot of tricks to bring out the best in spontaneous performances, and has friends who are good at acting when nobody is quite sure what will happen next. He thinks these might be useful here.)

For his day job he is a journalist, occasional satirist and very occasional theatre reviewer at scoop.co.nz.

© Scoop Media