Review: Sh!t-faced Shakespeare - Hamlet (Leicester Square Theatre)

Review by Daz Gale

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

To drink, or not to drink – that is the question. Luckily for us, Sh!t-faced Shakespeare have provided the answer, celebrating their 15^th anniversary by returning to Leicester Square Theatre to bring us their unique version of, you guessed it, Hamlet. Having heard much about their shows from other reviewers but never caught it myself, I was keen to revel in their brand of merriness with them… even if Hamlet itself may not be the merriest of Shakespeare’s shows. Would this play be the thing, or would I find myself wanting to drink the memory of it away?

If you are unfamiliar with the concept of Sh!t-faced Shakespeare, that first paragraph may not make a lot of sense to you, and you may think I was drunk myself writing this. While both things can indeed be true, not this time, I’m sorry to say. Sh!t-faced Shakespeare have been entertaining audiences all over the world for 15 years or, as they call it, “the world’s longest bar crawl”, enjoying sell-out runs in Edinburgh and the West End, with regular stops at Leicester Square Theatre along the way. Their premise is thus: take a Shakespeare classic, and perform it. The only difference is that one of them is drunk. A different cast member becomes intoxicated before the show begins and continues to drink throughout it. While the rest of the cast attempt to get on with the play as it was intended, this cast member may well have other ideas – this makes for a Hamlet like no other. Even The Lion King would argue they may have pushed it a bit too far, but that’s the circle of life.

The challenge is to work out for yourself which of the five cast members is the inebriated one. That took all of five seconds at this particular performance as one of them made her entrance by staggering on and stumbling in her steps. Hilarity then ensued throughout. It’s a clever concept, and one that brings Shakespeare’s works to a whole new audience, who perhaps may not take themselves to a production of Hamlet on a normal day. It didn’t take long for me to find myself laughing and enjoying the show from start to finish.

On this occasion, it fell to cast member Princess Donnough to take on the perils of pre-show drinking, making her dual roles of Ophelia and Horatio all the more memorable. Any escapism was forfeited mere moments after her first line, when she announced she was doing the wrong accent, calling herself by her real name, then explaining to the audience that is her actual name. That set the tone for the two hours of chaos that we were about to witness as she inserted herself into scenes she had no business being in, always making her presence known.

Among her choices at this performance (never to be seen again) were the decision to stop being cockney and bring a bit of Croydon to the show, resulting in lines such as “Man like Hamlet” – if Shakespeare wouldn’t have approved of that particular change, I don’t want to know how he’d feel about her shouting “GET OUT OF MY PUB” and “I love sucking c***” on stage. If you’re wondering how something like that fits into Hamlet, so am I – but who cares? It was unexpected, unpredictable, chaotic and hilarious.

While Princess’ four sober cast members (Shady Murphy, Jamie Sandersfield, John Mitton and Aaron Phinehas Peters) all attempt to keep the story going, her attempts to derail proceedings meant they had to improvise as they went. A throwaway comment about a character walking like a crab was immediately actioned, and became a recurring theme in the show, while her mention of Croydon was swiftly followed by an impromptu singalong to ‘Gangsta’s Paradise’. Not the only musical offering in the show, as Princess felt like singing ‘Last Resort’ by Papa Roach, much to the confusion and amusement of her fellow cast members. These random and unprovoked moments that occur to the sh!tfaced cast member have ripple effects that allow for comedy from all five cast members, and the script going out the window.

Attempting to keep some order going is producer James Murfitt, introducing the concept to the audience, questioning Princess on some of her remarks and keeping the plot moving along with a constant reminder of the time. Audience participation plays a part too, with several members being handed instruments to use when they feel the cast member needed another drink, while an unsuspecting member in the front row became the 6^th cast member in multiple scenes. Princess found herself so taken with another audience member in the front row that she spent much of the play communicating with him, perhaps more than she did her colleagues, and even borrowing one of his personal items to bring an extra prop into the play.

It's not just the drunk cast member that makes this show so frequently funny, with moments of comedy peppered into the staging and direction, such as the choice to continually interrupt Hamlet’s famous speech with as much disturbance as possible. Stacey Norris’ direction miraculously manages to keep the play going on, despite all the uncertainty around what might happen and when. With all performers proving themselves both with their improvisation and acting (as well as occasional singing), there is much mirth to be found at any show, even though you will never see a performance quite like that one again.

As a concept, Sh!t-faced Shakespeare is buckets of fun. Shakespeare purists may prefer to see one of the thousand other productions of Hamlet currently on offer around the UK, but those of us who want to see something a bit different will find this production all the more refreshing and get into the spirit of it - well, maybe spirits plural. Alas, poor Yorick may find his death undermined by the drunken antics that overshadow his final resting place, but the rest of us were in fits of laughter at this fantastically funny show. Get thee to Leicester Square Theatre, as this play really is the thing.

Sh!t-faced Shakeapeare – Hamlet plays at Leicester Square Theatre until 21^st September, and then tours the UK from 1^st October – 16^th November.

Dates and tickets at https://www.shitfacedshows.com/hamlet