"Shakespeared!" ensemble members Jess White, Andy Koski, Adam Michael Lewis, Nathan Klaus, Jeremy Mahr, Jake Walker, and Jeff De Leon
Saturday, November 9, 9:30 p.m.
The Spotlight Studio Theatre, 1800 Seventh Avenue, Moline IL
Star-crossed lovers. Palace intrigue. Mistaken identities. Patricide. A dude turning into a donkey. Just another Saturday night in the realm of William Shakespeare. But on the Saturday night of November 9, these and many other Bard-ian tropes will be affectionately spoofed in the return of Shakespeared!, an hour of long-form improvisational comedy taking place in Moline's Spotlight Studio Theatre.
A former staple of ComedySportz's late-night series when the troupe performed in Rock Island, Shakespeared! will be returning to the Quad Cities as an independent organization beginning with its November 9 bow. Previous attendees of this night of improv, though, will surely recognize the elements that, for many years, made the comedy event a fan favorite.
“Basically, we perform a quote-unquote 'lost play' by William Shakespeare,” says company member Jeremy Mahr. “That's it in a nutshell. But the play isn't complete – it's missing parts. So we get lines, to fill in those missing parts, from the audience. We have lines written on pieces of paper – that the actors may or not remember – that we get from the audience, and then we have to read them, and justify them, and make sense of them.
“And funnily enough, the title is missing from the show, too,” Mahr continues. “So the audience also provides that. We don't decide anything ahead of time. It's all just made up on the spot, and mostly inspired by the title we get. Then we'll do a first scene based on that title, and start to add problems and characters that complement it.”
Including Mahr, the ensemble is composed of nine actor/comedians not only practiced in the art of improv, but familiar with the works of Shakespeare, as all of the performers have appeared – many of them quite frequently – in productions by the area's verse-theatre troupe the Prenzie Players. Currently, the Shakespeared! company boasts the talents of Mahr, Nate Curlott, Jeff De Leon, Nathan Klaus, Andy Koski, Adam Michael Lewis, Jake Walker, Jess White, and Reader theatre reviewer Kitty Israel. At any given performance, audiences might see all of them or only a few of them. As Mahr says, “We've done the show with three people before. So it can be any combination of us.”
Unlike family-friendly ComedySportz performances (held in the Spotlight Studio on Fridays and Saturdays at 7 p.m.), Mahr stresses that Shakespeared! shows lean more toward humor for adults.
“We're going to be saying that Shakespeared! is rated R,” says Mahr. “Some people might be okay with having their kids under 17 come. But we recommend that if you're not sure, see it with your child. We're the equivalent of what an rated-R movie would be. We don't want it to be graphic, but we don't mind some innuendo. And unlike in Sportz, we don't have a referee on the side calling things and saying, 'You can't say that!'”
Mahr adds that anyone who feels they inherently don't understand, or even don't like, Shakespeare shouldn't worry about having a great time at the ensemble's performances.
“Audiences don't need familiarity to understand Shakespeared!,” he says. “I think everyone has some sort of an idea about what Shakespeare is, because he permeates our culture. So just having that basic knowledge, whatever it is, will get you through. We pay homage to Shakespeare in our shows, and we all love Shakespeare. But we don't hold him up with reverence here.
“The most fun that we have is when we're just being silly with each other,” Mahr continues, “and when we poke a little fun at the Shakespearean tropes. Sometimes there are supernatural forces that take place, like fairies and magic. There could potentially be talking animals, or Greek gods coming down and intervening on behalf of the characters or wreaking vengeance on the characters. It's mostly the dynamics of the ensemble that make the show fun.”
And as Mahr states, Shakespeared! fun results whether the audience-provided show title is something inherently lighthearted or inherently morbid, be it Romeo & Ethel, the Pirate's Daughter (the wisely discarded Romeo & Juliet title from Shakespeare in Love) or Hamlet & Macbeth Duel to the Death (my own invention that I hope no one steals).
“Our aim is always to be funny,” says Mahr. “Even if tragic circumstances would naturally come from a title we're given, improv really lends itself to comedy. I mean, we could be like, 'Okay, folks, tonight we're going to have a 60-minute cry-fest!' But we won't lean into that at all.
“What we like to say is that we present, in whatever we get from the title, a 'lamentable comedy' or a 'hysterical tragedy.'”
Shakespeared! will be performed in the Studio Theatre of Moline's Spotlight Theatre on November 9, with subsequent performances planned for the second Saturday of the month, and admission to the 9:30 p.m. performance is $10. For more information, visit Facebook.com/ShakespearedImprov, and follow the ensemble on Instagram at @shakespearedimprov.
