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Monday, September 07, 2026
Interview: Evan Taylor of SHIT-FACED SHAKESPEARE PRESENTS MACBETH at Southern Theatre
BroadwayWorld: No trash cans will be safe when Evan Taylor and the cast of Shit-faced Shakespeare present MACBETH 8 p.m. Sept. 25 at the Southern Theatre (21 E. Main St. in downtown Columbus).
The last time the Boston theatre troupe performed at the Southern, Taylor played Laertes in HAMLET.
3 comments:
Olivia Green
said...
I had no idea how Shitfaced-Shakespeare worked before reading this article and their process is very interesting. The idea that the actors all learn Shakespeare for months only to constantly be adapting and improvising to whatever the drunk actor does is very cool. The talent of these actors to both know their script and to be able to fit with the new parts is interesting and I wonder if they have to practice adapting or if they have some limited guidelines on what to do that they can bounce their ideas off of. I also wonder how the tech and stage management works with these constantly changing shows. We learned about how the Wooster Group has their director have a headset and can direct during the show and I wonder if Shitfaced-Shakespeare uses a similar method. The amount of checks and solutions that they have to think of for anything they could anticipate and whatever the drunk actor might come up with is probably vast. I think a Shitfaced-Shakespeare Hamlet is coming to Pittsburgh in March and I’m excited at the idea of going to watch it.
Looking back I am surprised that I had never heard of the Shit-Faced Shakespeare. They operate in the Boston area, so I will definitely be looking into seeing a performance while I am home. I haven’t made a point to see much theater even though I live close enough to see shows in Boston, Worcester, or pretty much any theater in the state of Massachusetts. I find myself influenced by my parent’s affinity for small venue live music. I tend to attend quite a few concerts at city wineries both in Pittsburgh and Boston. Most of the time the best performances are put on by the small groups that not a lot of people go to see. This applies to both live music and theater events. I hope to find some small theater venues in Pittsburgh to attend new and original shows put on by small groups from the community.
I truly believe the concept of getting “shit faced” while performing Shakespeare is not a concept that I have heard before, though I can’t say I wouldn’t be entertained by it. I really enjoyed the idea of it being one single cast member who gets inebriated and then tries to destroy the show per say. Especially since everyone has been practicing the show for weeks sober. I was curious if the one who is drunk for performance tries to still let the show play on, since there is a paying audience, or if the goal is to completely destroy the story. Taylor mentioned in the interview that before one of the drunken actors had been bribed with chicken nuggets to keep the story on track. I wonder how often the actor can’t be bribed and the show goes completely off the rails. I was also curious about this from a technical point of view, because surely costumes or props may be harmed in the process of being used for its unintended purpose. Would there be extra contingency money to replace things that may get damaged throughout the process since there is a higher likelihood?
3 comments:
I had no idea how Shitfaced-Shakespeare worked before reading this article and their process is very interesting. The idea that the actors all learn Shakespeare for months only to constantly be adapting and improvising to whatever the drunk actor does is very cool. The talent of these actors to both know their script and to be able to fit with the new parts is interesting and I wonder if they have to practice adapting or if they have some limited guidelines on what to do that they can bounce their ideas off of. I also wonder how the tech and stage management works with these constantly changing shows. We learned about how the Wooster Group has their director have a headset and can direct during the show and I wonder if Shitfaced-Shakespeare uses a similar method. The amount of checks and solutions that they have to think of for anything they could anticipate and whatever the drunk actor might come up with is probably vast. I think a Shitfaced-Shakespeare Hamlet is coming to Pittsburgh in March and I’m excited at the idea of going to watch it.
Looking back I am surprised that I had never heard of the Shit-Faced Shakespeare. They operate in the Boston area, so I will definitely be looking into seeing a performance while I am home. I haven’t made a point to see much theater even though I live close enough to see shows in Boston, Worcester, or pretty much any theater in the state of Massachusetts. I find myself influenced by my parent’s affinity for small venue live music. I tend to attend quite a few concerts at city wineries both in Pittsburgh and Boston. Most of the time the best performances are put on by the small groups that not a lot of people go to see. This applies to both live music and theater events. I hope to find some small theater venues in Pittsburgh to attend new and original shows put on by small groups from the community.
I truly believe the concept of getting “shit faced” while performing Shakespeare is not a concept that I have heard before, though I can’t say I wouldn’t be entertained by it. I really enjoyed the idea of it being one single cast member who gets inebriated and then tries to destroy the show per say. Especially since everyone has been practicing the show for weeks sober. I was curious if the one who is drunk for performance tries to still let the show play on, since there is a paying audience, or if the goal is to completely destroy the story. Taylor mentioned in the interview that before one of the drunken actors had been bribed with chicken nuggets to keep the story on track. I wonder how often the actor can’t be bribed and the show goes completely off the rails.
I was also curious about this from a technical point of view, because surely costumes or props may be harmed in the process of being used for its unintended purpose. Would there be extra contingency money to replace things that may get damaged throughout the process since there is a higher likelihood?
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