Shakesbeer Showdown Vol VII: Jurassic Bard 19 April 2018
Every year, in the lull between film awards season and the battle for the Stanley Cup, Torontonians are treated to the bruisingly competitive fundraiser Shakesbeers Showdown. The country's finest interpreters of the Bard on the Avon gather to challenge each other with cold readings and cold beer. The winning team gets bragging rights to Shakespearean superiority and a cool belt, the runners-up get gleefully trashed.
This year's sight readings come from the notoriously difficult - and error riddled - First Folio. The competitors come from Shakespeare in the Ruff, Theatre ARTaud, Skipping Stones Theatre, The Stratford Festival and a hapless group composed of Toronto theatre reviewers. There are also a few slots for ambitious amateurs and bloodthirsty theatre school grads. Unlike Shakespeare, the Shakesbeers Showdown is committed to gender diversity so this year "50% of teams must be women, trans, intersex, 2 spirit, nonbinary, agender or gender variant. The text may have been written by one (or a collection of predominantly) old whide dude(s), but it doesn't have to be performed by them."
Most of the competitors were too busy brushing up their Shakespeare, or had already practice drunk themselves into a stupor, but two of the more pugnacious poetry-spouters agreed to preview the showdown and managed to do so without descending to fisticuffs or Olde English obscenities.
Drew Rowsome: Why is your team going to win?
Victoria Urquhart (host and stalwart of the Spur-Of-The-Moment Shakespeare Collective): We won back in '13, and we have some tricks up our sleeves this year . . . Also we are known for putting actors in hospitals.
Kate McArthur (representing Shakespeare BASH'd): Because James Wallis my team-mate is a boss. And I am really good at distracting people.
What training regime have you embarked on to prepare for the Shakesbeers Showdown?
Victoria Urquhart: I put my artists through a rigorous training regime: beer and bard, morning noon and night. Balanced with a healthy diet of delicious bready carbs like our sponsor's Panago Pizza.
Kate McArthur: Minding my u/v and my s/f.
What team do you think offers the most competition?
Victoria Urquhart: Stratty. They heard our smacktalk last year and sent their best. What a shame their best is no match.
Kate McArthur: BASH'd, obviously. I am particularly fond of Skipping Stones Theatre, though.
Which team is most apt to be underhanded (or have the highest tolerance for alcohol)?
Victoria Urquhart: Shakey-Shake. Easily. My partner is from there and tried sneaking a peek at the material already. Also, they juggle puppets, text AND beer. And they are the crowd favourite every time. So of course they do at least three rounds, plus a shot, plus a welcome-beer for good measure.
Kate McArthur: . . . not us . . .
Why is Shakespeare still so relevant and compelling (even without beer)?
Victoria Urquhart: It's so human. It's so raw. It's so honest. The poetry works in the english language in such a way that gets people making very animalistic sounds that speaks to our base instincts and emotions.
Kate McArthur: There is something hypnotic and deeply human about blank verse.
This year's title,"Jurassic Bard," implies "ancient" and is presumably a dig at the age of the First Folio. But it also implies "terrifying" or Spielbergian. What do the First Folios inspire in you?
Victoria Urquhart: I literally just had a nightmare about reading it wrong in front of everyone. For me, it inspires the ability to fail with flair. It's dated, but it still gets at us in a silly way that points to some interesting hidden truths. Also it has the first emoticons.
Kate McArthur: I always look at text as a puzzle. I love deconstructing it all and there is something great about going back to the source and seeing the growth. Particularly with punctuation as you follow the shift in publishing for record into publishing for academia.
Will rival company Shakey-Shake and Friends have dinosaur puppets?
Victoria Urquhart: They better!
Kate McArthur: I don't think so, but that would be wicked.
Why is it important to support the Shakespeare-In-Hospitals program which Shakesbeer Showdown Vol VII: Jurassic Bard benefits?
Victoria Urquhart: It's one of the few theatre projects out there that provides cyclical benefits: relief to patients and clients, a rewarding experience for artists, and an enlightening re-teaching of what theatre can be for a generation that has either not yet experienced theatre, or has experienced theatre back in high school.
Kate McArthur: I CANNOT STRESS HOW IMPORTANT THIS PROGRAM IS. I was part of it a few years back, and sometimes we were the only conversation that some patients had all day. It was always fascinating to learn what the person's experience with Shakespeare has been throughout their life.
This is the 7th annual Shakesbeers Showdown. Over the years, what is the most hilarious, embarrassing or entertaining moment you have witnessed?
Victoria Urquhart: The fool's round was founded after a fantastic actor who is incredibly proficient at Shakespeare, competed in 2013 and managed to screw up every word in the scene. Even words like "the." It was glorious.
Kate McArthur: I can't recall.
Once the beer starts flowing and the prose starts flying, how will Victoria possibly keep order?
Victoria Urquhart: I've got an air horn and a taste for chaos. Any questions?
Kate McArthur: She has a good set of judges at the helm. I'm sure they can keep us in line.
RELATED ARTICLES / ARCHIVE: