Magnificent Bastard Productions have become well-known for their Shit-Faced Shakespeare shows. The basic premise: put on a reduced version of a play in which one of the cast members is absolutely shit-faced. And if they're not quite wasted enough? Ply them with even more alcohol, point, laugh, and repeat.
It's the sort of riotous entertainment that's perfect for fringe theatre festivals, an hour of silliness as a counter to po-faced interpretations of the Bard's works. They've since extended the idea to other shows and musicals, now presenting "Oliver With A Twist".
During the course of an hour, the cast irreverently put an alcohol-infused spin on Dickens' classic, with a few songs from both the musical and others thrown in for good measure. The seven actors rotate through the roles each night, taking it in turns to be the drunk victim: on this particular night, Issy Wroe Wright stumbled, slurred and lunged across the stage as the titular orphan boy.
The move away from Shakespeare does allow for a little more flexibility. There are dances and songs to remember as well as dialogue, sure to confuse sober and drunk actors alike. Yet where there's usually an amusing juxtaposition of drunk actor garbling through poetic blank verse, here the production quickly descends into chaotic pantomime. The actual plot of Oliver Twist is quickly forgotten, the actors clinging on to the main story beats for dear life, barely scraping through the run-time.
The results are anarchic fun, if utterly cheap. There is essentially one joke here - let's laugh at the drunk actor - as opposed to offering a witty and well-written script performed with expert comic timing. Of course, this isn't trying to be anything more than drunken, shallow amusement and on that note it certainly succeeds. And if you're shit-faced yourself, all the better.
3/5
Watch: Shit-Faced Showtime runs at the Leicester Square Theatre until 12th April.
Photos: Rah Petherbridge
