Breaking Bard

Extremely smart and very enjoyable! This show has got Best of Fringe written all over it! Author Gus Krieger is a poetic genius, pulling just the right Shakespeare quotes to give intense theatrical life to this well-known cast of characters. Bard-o-philes will appreciate the clever combinations of famous speeches from throughout the canon (he even works in Titus Andronicus, fer crissake! and the Seven [St]ages of Man/Meth speech alone is worth the price of admission), and Breaking Baddies will enjoy the creative, condensed retelling of the entire series. If you're a fan of both the Bard and the Bad, you are in for a real treat! The cast - members of that talented-beyond-their-years company The Porters of Hellsgate - delivers the iambic penta... full review

In the vein of Pulp Shakespeare and Two Gentlemen of Lebowski comes Breaking Bard. A brilliant mashup of Bill Shakespeare and Breaking Bad. The show's only an hour, so it hits the highlights of the series (spoliers abound!). The script renders the tragic tale of Walter of Albuquerque into cleverly-crafted verses that hint at the Bard's greatest hits, and rounds the story out with broad strokes of comedic brilliance. If you're a fan of either Shakespeare or Walter White (or both! Especially both!), you'll love this show. A fantastic offering from The Porters of Hellsgate. Not to be missed. ... full review

A hilarious script - fantastic performances - lots of laughter. Local theater companies can be hit and miss. I was concerned that the show wouldn't live up to the hype. Boy was I so happy when it did! I would recommend this to any breaking bad fan, who understands Shakespeare. Hearing most of the Bards famous lines intermixed with the plot for the show slayed me. I can't wait to go see it again!! ... full review

#SeeItLA - This is well written, clever and well acted. In a quick 60 minutes, writer Gus Krieger, who also plays Walter White, is able to tell the entire story of all 5 seasons of the hit TV show Breaking Bad through reworked Shakespearean speeches. Kreiger includes several of Shakespeare's most famous speeches, including Twelfth Night's seven ages of man speech reworked into the seven stages of meth cooking. It is very clever. It can stand on its own, but will definitely be funnier to Shakespeare and Breaking fans. So brush up on your bard, brush up on your bad and bring your strawberry embroidered hanky because you just might laugh so hard that you cry.... full review

To start with I'm going to assume you have an idea of what this show is and go from there. At the bottom* I will fill in those of you who may not know. Yes. See this. The adaption is exquisitely executed. The performances manage to be faithful both to Shakespeare and to the characters of Breaking Bad. No, not everyone nor everything from the later is there, this show is only an hour. But there are no wasted moments, no gratuitously expended time, no unnecessarily pregnant pauses or beats. This show commits to its premise with a sincerity that was absolutely necessary, but none the less very much appreciated. The few times there are winks to the audience it is as if with the blessing of the Bard himself. During the curtain call ... full review

AMAZING! CLEVER! HILARIOUS. If you have seen Breaking Bad -- you have to see Breaking Bard.... full review

what a genius concept! Gus Krieger was a sharp tongued sir Walter white. Jesse was hilarious! Drina Durazo's directing shines! What an amazing show! I hope to see it again as I know it will surely build steam and become a larger production. It is too good not to continue!... full review

AMAZING. Hysterical. Brilliant writing, directing, and acting. I have seen it three times and still catch something new and hilarious each time. FANTASTIC!!!!!... full review

This is a sharp, witty piece that keeps you working hard as an audience as you hungrily fathom which Shakespeare plays are being referenced and which allusions to BREAKING BAD are being used. Gus Krieger - who also plays "Lord Walter White, a scholar" - has constructed an artful combination of Will and Walt, that really had the audience eating out of his hands. (Even Hector's bell was rung in iambic pentameter! How fun is that?) The whole company works slickly and playfully, with lovely performances from Jesse James Thomas as Pinkman and Thomas Bigley as Hank, that combined imitation with truth. (That's no small feat.) This is a show for the cognoscenti - it really helps if you know either your Shakespeare well or you're a BREAKING BAD fan, ... full review

Snobby, British-educated turd that I am, I was ready to pounce on this with one eyebrow raised, and a smirk on my face. OK. I am slammed to the ground. This brilliant adaption (ask yourself how anyone can put the entire series into an hour, and with iambic pentameter, yet) with hilarious speech familiar to fans of the show and of the Bard, simply works. It just does. Performances were flawless, and the entire experience was a delight. This should go to the Edinburgh Fringe. That good. Thanks, Porters of Hellgate, for a sublime Saturday afternoon!... full review