Sh!t-faced Shakespeare | Leicester Square Theatre

Someone is sh!tfaced in the state of Denmark.

Sh!t-faced Shakespeare, a theatre company dedicated to bringing a new twist to the works of Britain’s most famous playwright, by getting one of the performers utterly sloshed before heading onstage, have turned their talents to Hamlet in their latest outing at the Leicester Square Theatre. 

In order to protect the actors’ livers, the show has an ensemble cast and chooses a different member to ply with booze at each performance on a rotating basis. For Thursday’s press performance, it was the turn of Jamie Sandersfield in the role of Hamlet. This instantly amped up the comedy of the evening as, as Jamie himself and exasperated compere James Murfitt repeatedly pointed out, Hamlet has all of the lines. 

Not that many of the lines appeared, at least not as Shakespeare wrote them. Instead Sandersfield led the audience in a round of slow clapping, turned one scene into an episode of Antiques Roadshow, took down his opponents using Falcon Punch, and used his death scene to confess his love for Horatia (Princess Donnough). Murfitt had to repeatedly intervene to keep the action moving, with cries of “Jamie can we move this on now?” and “hands up if you’re supposed to be in this scene?” regularly heard. 

The remaining four cast members, Princess Donnough as Ophelia, John Mitton as Claudius, Shady Murphy as Gertrude and Aaron Phinehas Peters as Laertes/Ghost, had to respond to Sanderson’s antics, while also keeping the action moving in approximately the way in which Shakespeare had intended. However, this being an abridged and irreverent take on Shakespeare, they did throw in some comedy of their own, with Mitton in particular becoming the target of Murfitt’s ire after derailing a scene further with one of his own jokes.

Some of the jokes did run overly long, despite Murfitt’s efforts to keep the company (and particularly Sandersfield on track), but wondering what he will come up with next and watching the sober players’ efforts to respond to it was a genuine joy. 

Not a show for the Shakespeare purists (some audience members were roundly roasted for trying to introduce some of Hamlet’s actual lines back into the play), Sh!tfaced Shakespeare: Hamlet is a fun romp through a play which you probably thought you knew, but will find yourself questioning plenty about after this irreverent take on the material.

Just avoid the front few rows if the idea of audience participation brings you out in hives: the company does select willing and less willing volunteers for roles both large and small during the night!

Sh!tfaced Shakespeare: Hamlet runs at Leicester Square Theatre until 21st September, before touring the UK until 16th November.

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★★★☆☆ (3*)

Gifted tickets in return for an honest review | Photography provided by PR