Fringe review: SHAKEITUP - THE IMPROVISED SHAKESPEARE SHOW, Edinburgh Festival Fringe
Take five exceptionally talented improv actors, give them a genre, a location and the name of the lead, then get ready for an hour of hilarious Shakespearean fun.
The show is, of course, different every time but we were treated to the comedic tale of James of Amsterdam. James being the name of an audience member’s first kiss and Amsterdam a place chosen from the melee of names that were shouted out by the audience. This isn’t the end of the audience participation; we were invited to tweet suggested lines which are then read out and weaved into the show with mixed levels of success. “The greatest tragedy is pineapple on pizza” is certainly not what we imagined being part of a declaration of love, but it certainly made it funnier!
The cast of ShakeItUp: The Improvised Shakespeare Show are so clever and quick witted, and clearly have a love and knowledge of Shakespeare and history. However, the show is so accessible, and you would definitely still enjoy it even if the only play you know is Romeo and Juliet. The lines are certainly not in iambic pentameter but there are so many of the Shakespearean elements we love from the plays. An improvised soliloquy or poem is a truly an impressive feat and so is playing three characters without even knowing you will be. This is a company of excellent performers but a special shoutout must go to James Dart who cross dressed and was at the centre of the show’s classic case of mistaken identity. It must vary from show to show but he was key in moving the story along and creating a lot of the chaos of deception.
Never did we think we’d see a Shakespearean inspired play which featured a dance-off accompanied by songs on a kazoo, ABBA references and duck humour but we’re so glad we have! At the end of the story, the brotherly feud is resolved; the guys get the girls and we leave with a belly full of laughs.
ShakeItUp: The Improvised Shakespeare Show is brilliantly bonkers and it must be one of the best improvised shows out there to see at this year’s Edinburgh Fringe.
***** Five stars
ShakeItUp: The Improvised Shakespeare Show plays at Gilded Balloon Teviot at 3pm daily until 13 August.