If you've never heard of a Shakespeare play called King Phycus that's because no such play exists ... at least not by The Bard. Tom Willmorth's Shakespeare's King Phycus is based on the premise that a never-before-heard-of Shakespeare play surfaces from the depths of history.
At least that's all I knew before I went to see The Antaeus Company's A2 Ensemble performance.
What I didn't know is that it was going to be a parody of Shakespeare's most well-known tragedies, though it became very evident when the play opens and the actor's mock the brilliant opening of Antaeus's Macbeth. Having seen that play, it took about two seconds into the play for the laughter to begin. Right after, though, when the players began to through food - and the baby - around, I thought this was going to be a funny parody. What I didn't expect was for it be extremely smart and clever.
Apparently, King Phycus is actually a longer play with an intermission, but A2 cut it down to 70 minutes. I'm not sure if they did what the movie industry does with trailers, where you pick the absolute best bits and cram them into a couple of minutes, but the resulting 70 minutes left my jaw muscles aching. I couldn't stop laughing and smiling the entire time. There were moments when the lines were just so witty and so perfectly delivered that I couldn't even laugh because I was just basking in awe of what had happened before me. Of course, it has extremely silly moments, too, but it's just so darn clever!
If you're familiar with Macbeth, Julius Caesar, Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, King Lear, and Richard III, you'll love this play.
We're gonna go see it again next week :)
At least that's all I knew before I went to see The Antaeus Company's A2 Ensemble performance.
What I didn't know is that it was going to be a parody of Shakespeare's most well-known tragedies, though it became very evident when the play opens and the actor's mock the brilliant opening of Antaeus's Macbeth. Having seen that play, it took about two seconds into the play for the laughter to begin. Right after, though, when the players began to through food - and the baby - around, I thought this was going to be a funny parody. What I didn't expect was for it be extremely smart and clever.
Apparently, King Phycus is actually a longer play with an intermission, but A2 cut it down to 70 minutes. I'm not sure if they did what the movie industry does with trailers, where you pick the absolute best bits and cram them into a couple of minutes, but the resulting 70 minutes left my jaw muscles aching. I couldn't stop laughing and smiling the entire time. There were moments when the lines were just so witty and so perfectly delivered that I couldn't even laugh because I was just basking in awe of what had happened before me. Of course, it has extremely silly moments, too, but it's just so darn clever!
If you're familiar with Macbeth, Julius Caesar, Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, King Lear, and Richard III, you'll love this play.
We're gonna go see it again next week :)
