On Thursday, January 4th, I went to NYC with my older brother and my mom to see a performance of Drunk Shakespeare. It was a chilly evening, but we were bundled up nicely, and looking forward to being in the cozy setting with the performers.
If you've never heard of Drunk Shakespeare before, first off, you're welcome. Second, it's exactly what it sounds like: Shakespeare performed by a cast of talented actors, featuring one particularly inebriated actor who must take five shots of tequila in front of the audience at the start of the show!
One of the audience members answered a Shakespeare trivia correctly and took a shot with the actor, confirming that it was, indeed, actual tequila.
The performance is set in a hidden library, about a 10 minute taxi ride from Penn Station. The library is an intimate and interesting setting that only made the show even more engaging. We got our balcony tickets upgraded at random and were able to sit stage-side with the actors, which was amazing!
The audience participation was so much fun; the actors even singled out my mom and made inappropriate jokes to my and my brother's horror! But it was all in good fun, and we had a couple of drinks in us by then, so that certainly helped.
Yes, they serve alcohol to you at the show! Drink during the performance, laugh along, participate and be rewarded with free drinks – it really is an experience I've never had before and one that I really enjoyed, especially since they slip in pop culture references and made this like no other Shakespeare I've seen.
Out of five stars, Drunk Shakespeare definitely earns all five. The performance is different every night, and shows run through January, so grab your friends and family (21+ requirement with ID at the door!) and have a great night in the city!