A Rustic Riot (House Band), Melissa Hmelnicky as Rosaline, Niusha Nawab as Boyet (Ryan Maxwell Photography)
Theater fans, it’s time to brush up your Shakespeare—and your beer pong skills, while you’re at it. LiveArtDC’s drunk Shakespeare series is back, this time bringing Love’s Labours … sorry, Love’s LaBEERS Lost to Petworth.
Co-presented with Grain of Sand Theatre, the production is clever, cute, and a bit silly. The main appeal, of course, is the shtick: a play performed in a bar. It’s a style D.C. area audiences have come to know through LiveArtDC productions such as The Merry Death of Robin Hood (2016), Drunkle Vanya (2015), and R+J: Star-Cross’d Death Match (2014).
LaBEERS isn’t a show that starts when the house lights go down. Here, the only curtains are in the windows and across the glass-paned front door, creating an insulated space free from the eyes of curious passersby. There’s no real set (where would you put it?), minimal props, and no assigned seating.
It’s a free flowing experience that begins long before the show starts. From the moment an audience member steps into DC Reynolds, they’re settling into the play. Forget that the first lines won’t be delivered for another 15 minutes. Cast members are already in character, playing beer pong, cramming duck fat fries in their mouths, and playing jenga.
It’s loud. It’s energetic. It’s a raucous party complete with a “secret word drinking game.” Encouraging audience members to drink is one of the many aspects that sets LaBEERS apart from most plays, and DC Reynolds from other venues.
While plenty of local theaters (God bless ‘em) have had the good business sense to offer libations, you and your adult sippy cup of merlot are still expected to stay in your seat. During LaBEERS, however, you don’t have to wait until intermission to get a fresh pour, and moving around is encouraged. There’s even a catchy song for it! You’ll know it’s time to relocate when two-man house band A Rustic Riot starts singing, “It’s time you move your ass to the other side of the bar.” It’s kind of nice to stretch your legs.
We’re all familiar with the compulsory announcement to turn off your cell phones. It’s an industry-wide standard, but not something you’ll hear before this production. You want to text or Snapchat your friends about the show? Go for it! Do you know who you want to drunk text tonight? A Rustic Riot has a song about that too.
Another departure from Arena Stage, Shakespeare Theatre Company, and other alcohol-friendly venues is that while drinking during their productions is allowed, intoxication is frowned upon. Nobody wants or encourages you to interrupt LaBEERS with a drunken stumble or outburst, but you’re welcome to get politely pissed during this production. Isn’t that refreshing?
Director Sara Bickler makes good use of the DC Reynolds space, taking advantage of the two-level establishment and the bar, which Kerry McGee gleefully uses as her personal perch in her role as Don Armado. Bickler has been here before. She staged R+J here, the Capital Fringe 2014 Best Drama Award-winning adaptation of Romeo and Juliet.
In a program note, Bickler says she’s wanted to direct the “problem play” for a long time. “How does a long, dense, wordy play with a huge cast and tiny plot work in a small bar like DC Reynolds?,” she asks. She tackles that challenge by having fun with the space and the show, focusing on love and what the play seems to say about it.
Caitlin Partridge as the Princess of France and Danny Cackley as King Ferdinand (Ryan Maxwell Photography)
While shotgunning beers in bowties and Vineyard Vines “bro shorts,” the court of Navarre pledges to commit themselves to study, minimal sleep, and abstinence. Sounds like the average college experience, aside from the “no sex” part.
The bros’ plan is going well enough, until the Princess of France (Caitlin Partridge) and her ladies (Amber A. Gibson, Megan Reichelt and Melissa Hmelnicky) show up at the frat house. They soon win the affections of King Ferdinand (Danny Cackley) and his men, Biron (Kevin Collins), Dumain (Jonathan Douglass), and Longaville (Elizabeth Hansen). But just because the guys are interested doesn’t mean they’re breaking their vow, at least not openly.
The cast features a dozen local actors with a wide range of experience—Niusha Nawab’s (Boyet) bio promises that if you buy him a drink, “I’ll tell you about the cool show I did in high school.”—but all twelve seem to enjoy the jokes and pulling the audience into the show, when appropriate.
They try their best to tell Shakespeare’s comedy through a collegiate lens, but it might be difficult for those unfamiliar with the story to follow. As with satire, if you can’t identify the reference, you might get the joke but miss the punch line. Do yourself a favor: give the SparkNotes a quick read before coming.
For the non-sports fans out there, this is a great alternative to staring at your smart phone screen and it’ll give you and your friends something to discuss over your third beer. Whether the bar or the Bard is the hook that gets you in the door, Love’s LaBEERS Lost is an entertaining, more-or-less civilized way to spend an evening.
No freshmen allowed. This 21+ party is held every Wasted Wednesday, Thirsty Thursday, and Shitfaced Saturday night at 9 through October 22. Buy tickets here.
