Shakespeare, Shakespeare, Mendelssohn, Shakespeare, Shakespeare...

The summer of 2023 draws to a close with a lot of Shakespeare: Shakespeare in a bar. Shakespeare being spoofed. Shakespeare in a bar being spoofed by puppets. And then...there's this Mendelssohn thing that sounds kind of amazing too...really looking forward to that!

​The Comedy of King Lear (Kinda Sorta)
Local comic guru Patrick Schmitz opens his latest spoof this month as he presents a doubtlessly strange take on the classic tragedy of a man who divides his kingdom up between his three daughters. It’s a really dark drama. Back in the years following the Restoration, they tried to make it a bit cheerier as it was largely considered to be overwhelmingly dark. Ultimately that approach was rejected, but maybe they didn’t go far enough. Maybe they should have gone ahead and just completely re-written it as a comedy. It could work. Schmitz 'n Giggles production runs one weekend only August 10th - 12th at the Next Act/Renaissance Theatre space on 255 S. Water St.

Shakespeare RAW: Hamlet
Boozy Bard performs an irreverent twist on the classic tragedy of an indecisive Emo/Goth Kid as he considers...doing things...Easily one of the best-known of Shakespeare’s plays--it’s a bit of a spoof of itself, so there’s an easy connection between it and the lovingly unprepared improv atmosphere of a Boozy Bard show. Scripts are painstakingly streamlined in advance. Actors are chosen at random to play...random roles. Somehow everything makes sense. It’s a fun approach and an equally fun atmosphere. August 14th - 16th at The Best Place Tavern  on 917 W. Juneau Ave.

​Songs Without Words
Michael Cotey directs Jennifer Vosters in a solo play about 19th century composer Felix Mendelssohn and his older sister Fanny. Vosters is good in anything, but she’s shown a great amount of appeal and charming gravity in various solo efforts she’s done online several years ago during the whole COVID thing. her Instagram page on the show has been interesting to follow. She’s fun. The show runs for one performance only at 6 pm on August 18th at the Todd Wehr Theatre as a part of Milwaukee Fringe Festival.

​Angry Bard: Shakespeare? I Hardly Know Her!
If Vosters’ show isn't your thing, there's inadvertent counter-programming not far from the Todd Wehr, Boozy Bard will be performing a script originally written for...puppets by Angry Young Men, Ltd. It's a free Boozy Bard-style Shakespeare show that they had performed on the Fringe Fest some time ago. This year as a lead-in to the Fringe, they’re doing their Shakespeare comedy thing for free at The Best Place Tavern on 917 W. Juneau Ave. Shakespeare originally written for Puppets at a bar starts at 7:30 pm on August 18th.  Then the following day, Angry Young Men help Boozy Bard do for late 19th century Russian theatre what they normally do for Shakespeare (and occasionally Dickens) with Chekhov: Half-Baked!  The puppet-assisted spoofery continues at 8 pm on August 19th at the Todd Wehr Theatre as a part of Milwaukee Fringe Festival.

​Richard II
Voices Found Repertory presents a staging of Shakespeare’s tragedy of Richard II set in the 1920s. The talented Hannah Kubiak directs the show. She’s directing a cast of just eight actors in a show that runs only eight performances. The two-hour runtime of the performance should make for a tight, little presentation of the classic drama. August 23rd - September 3rd at Inspiration Studios on 1500 S. 73rd St. in West Allis. ​