Back in 2018, Vancouver’s Monster Theatre scored at the Orlando Fringe with “‘Til Death,” their deconstructionist take on the wives of Henry VIII, around the time the musical “SIX” about the same subject was exploding. This year, with “& Juliet” still blowing up on Broadway, the troupe is back with their own award-winning evisceration of Shakespeare’s Verona tragedy, “Juliet: A Revenge Comedy.” Just don’t expect any expensive sets or ear-splitting pop tunes here, because these clever comics doth teach the torches to burn bright with little more than their nimble brains and bodies.
After endless centuries of stabbing herself to death for theatergoers’ amusement, Romeo’s doomed child-bride, Juliet (Lili Beaudoin), has somehow managed to break the cycle of her script and burst through the fourth wall into our world. Unmoored in the literary space-time continuum, she travels through the Bard’s canon to rescue his suicidal females from being fridged. In a bravura performance, Carly Pokoradi embodies the 20-odd characters she encounters, switching swiftly from an airheaded Ophelia and asp-clasping Cleopatra to an oversexed Miranda and homicidal Lady Macbeth, each rendered with delirious distinctness. Waiting in the wings to revert their retcon is Billy Shakes himself (director Ryan Gladstone, who co-wrote with Pippa Mackie), who impersonates witches and wizards in an attempt to restore his patriarchal narrative.
This cast is equally as fluent with Elizabethan verse as they are with physical comedy, and the sly feminist commentary they’ve woven into these time-worn works hilariously complements their tightly choreographed pratfalls. If you’re intrigued by the idea of a “Wizard of Oz”-esque Excellent Adventure that allows Shakespeare’s ill-used women to finally have their say, “Juliet: A Revenge Comedy” is a delicious dish best served while Fringe is piping hot.
Orlando Fringe Festival: Tickets and times for “Juliet: A Revenge Comedy”
Orlando Family Stage
This article appears in May 15-21, 2024.