THE IMPROVISED SHAKESPEARE SHOW Comes to The Other Palace in July

The Improvised Shakespeare Show will come to The Other Palace Theatre Studio, 9th – 13th July.

The raucous improvised Shakespeare comedy led by the audience will make its Off-West End debut this July at The Other Palace Theatre. Using the language of Shakespeare, audience suggestions, and the actors’ imaginations, ShakeItUp perform a completely new and made-up Shakespeare style play live on stage each night, complete with music and songs. The audience are invited to pick their genre: Epic History, Romantic Comedy, or Gruesome Tragedy, as well as name the lead character, side characters and location of the play. As an added bonus, the audience get to play the Bard by penning their own wittiest Shakespearean line for the brave actors to pull from their breeches when they need a helping hand – despite having no idea what the line will be before they say it. Created to be accessible and enjoyable to all, The Improvised Shakespeare Show is designed for everyone to take part in, from Shakespeare aficionados to novices, with laughs, drama, and plenty of bard-based Bedlam.  

James Dart, Artistic Director said, “Shakespeare hasn’t written anything new for an age, so we thought we would give him a hand…I am extremely excited to announce that ShakeItUp will be making our off-west end debut at The Other Palace this July! The Other Palace has a history of supporting dynamic new talent, and we are very proud to be part of their season this year ahead of our return to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in August. Audiences are in for a real treat, as we bring our own unique brand of Bard-based Bedlam to The Other Palace stage. This is Shakespeare as it was meant to be seen: completely made up on the spot, and utterly bonkers!” 

ShakeItUp Theatre Company was formed in 2018 by graduates from The Guildford School of Acting, who loved Shakespeare but hated learning lines, so decided to try making up their own! The company’s first performances took place in a tiny room above a pub in Putney, and since they have gone on to perform at The Brighton Open Air Theatre, The Hen & Chickens Theatre, Camden Fringe, Larmer Tree Festival, Byline Festival and the world-famous Minack Theatre in Cornwall. Additionally, ShakeItUp have taken part in the pioneering New Normal Festival in the summer of 2020, and appeared in the inaugural season of the Thorington Open Air Theatre in 2021. ShakeItUp has also gone international, and so far they have performed their unique improvised Shakespeare plays in Italy, Poland, and Germany. 2024 is set to be just as big a year for the company, with a return to Edinburgh Festival Fringe this August, their run at The Other Palace in July, and plenty more shows planned this year, both to venues and audiences that are familiar to the company as well as exciting new ones.  

Cast: James Alston, Abigail Clay, Fred Di Rosa, James Dart, Abby Forman, Rebecca Gibbs, Olivia Gibbs-Fairley, Madeline Hatt, Ed Kaye, Silvia Manazzone, Caleb Mitchell, Joe Prestwich, Dexter Southern, Rose Trustman 

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