What I liked
see below
What I didn't like
see below
My overall impression
I stumbled into 50 Shades Of Shakespeare not knowing at all what I was in for. I expected a sexy send up of Shakespeare’s material, or maybe inspired, I don’t know.
The format of this show:
Four extremely talented actors (2 female, 2 male) play various roles decided by the audience as they perform excerpts from selected canons.
Really, what works about 50 SoS, are the performances. I’m not a huge Shakespeare guy, so usually I avoid anything to do with the source material, but what I did find in this show.. I haven’t found anywhere else. A moment where I was no longer paying attention to the gender, and instead focused on just the material. I think the Bard would certainly approve.
I would liked to have seen a twist or two somewhere… a wrench thrown into the gameplan that has already been set up. An actor getting switched out mid-way, a new style or genre of the material suddenly changing the course of how the scene plays out. Also… 50 Shades “suggests” that this will be a sexy show. It’s not. Overall, one of my favorite shows I’ve seen this year. Really enjoyed it.
