New York City’s Drunk Shakespeare is back with a production of “Drunk Romeo & Juliet.”
Presented by the Drunk Shakespeare Society, “Drunk Romeo & Juliet” takes the classic Shakespeare play and turns it on its head. Written and directed by Lori Wolter Hudson, the show features the newest members of The Drunk Shakespeare Society, including Samuel Adams, Gracie Lee Brown, Ryan Farnsworth, Morgan Haney, Craig Jackson, Sarah Ann Leahy, Travis Raeburn, Ali Regan, Brandon Salerno, and Sky Young.
Like the original “Romeo & Juliet,” “Drunk Romeo & Juliet” follows the story of the titular teens (though aged up in this production) as their love story unfolds. However, with the addition of alcohol, things can get a little rocky.
Leahy, one of the actresses who plays the titular Juliet in this production, says that the original “Romeo & Juliet” lends itself beautifully to the Drunk Shakespeare model.
“Everyone knows ‘Romeo & Juliet,’ everyone had to read it and a lot of people don’t have the best experience because they were bored — they had to read it or maybe they saw a really not-so-good production of it,” said Leahy. “Back in the day, Shakespeare would do comedies, tragedies, histories, but ‘Romeo & Juliet’ was the first to kind of break that mold. You get a little bit of everything. We do put jokes in there, there’s improv, there’s silly things, but we don’t have to write all the jokes in there — Shakespeare put them there for us.”
Leahy, who fell in love with Shakespeare doing a production of “Romeo & Juliet” in the Midwest, finds it to be a full-circle moment for her to portray Juliet with the Drunk Shakespeare Society.
“When I first moved out years ago, I knew about the society. I have actually always wanted to work for them. I had especially wanted to do it because Shakespeare was my first professional job,” said Leahy. “I’ve always been keeping an eye on the Drunk Shakespeare Society, any time that auditions came up, because I just really wanted to work with them. And then the posting came up that they were doing ‘Romeo & Juliet,’ and I was just like, how perfect could this possibly be? I got very, very lucky and ended up getting the call to work for them. It’s been so much fun.”
The show has been running since June 4, and Leahy says that so far the response has been overwhelmingly positive from the audience. Leahy says that those who come to enjoy a performance of “Drunk Romeo & Juliet” can expect to laugh while also getting a creative rendition of the classic Shakespeare tale.
“There’s something for everyone in there. Everyone will find something to laugh about because there is physical humor, there’s intelligent humor, there’s humor from the language itself. They should still expect to see a good amount of Shakespeare text,” said Leahy. “We really found a comfortable balance there.”
The show will run through Sept. 30. Performances take place at the Ruby Theater (35 W 39th St.) on Monday through Thursday at 7 p.m., Fridays at 8 and 10 p.m., Saturdays at 3, 5, 7, and 9 p.m., and Sundays at 7 p.m.
Tickets for “Drunk Romeo & Juliet” start at $49 and are available online at drunkshakespeare.com. Ticket holders must be 21+.
