Boozy, Bawdy and Boisterous! This Theatrical bunch of Thespians created Fabulous Fringe Festival Fun. (OK, I’ll stop with the alliterations now.)

Shakespeare is Wordy and Wondrous, (couldn’t help myself, sorry!) and his plays are still being performed around the world for a reason—they are bloody good stories, no matter what madcap versions of them are created.

This frenetically paced version by Pre-Game Theatre takes the three hour long play of Hamlet and reduces it to 75 minutes of improvised, yet controlled, entertainment. The premise is highly amusing; take five actors playing multiple parts, add in a game show format, plus one actor is picked to take four shots at the beginning of the show and then encourage the audience to drink along with the cast at particular moments. It’s not obligatory to drink, but it did feel cool to be sipping along with the cast.

For audience members familiar with the plot of Hamlet there was enough of the original text evident to keep true to the story, but there was a lot of modern day narrating to clarify the complicated plot. It was a clever rendition of mixing the Elizabethan language with random ideas such as a Scottish or South African accent, Sci-Fi characters, and physical comedy like random limb movements. Every performance will be different according to the spin of the wheel!

The highlight for me was the beautiful “To be or not to be” monologue from Hamlet being performed in a rogue Scottish accent and yet still retaining its essential meaning, along with the bloody finale maintaining a sense of its familial tragedy amongst the hilarious poison gags.

Get yourself a drink (alcoholic or not) and a ticket to this Seriously Silly Shakespeare. (Again, sorry.)