Shakespeare for Breakfast is a great show to start your day… and that’s not just because of the complimentary coffee and pastries!
A performance the whole family will love.
It’s the 28th year C theatre have put on a Shakespearience and it’s safe to say this has become a beloved tradition among many Fringe visitors who excitedly return again and again.
This year they’re performing an enjoyably silly parody of Romeo and Juliet, featuring the aptly named Cupulets and Montabrews who own rival coffee shops on Cinnamon Square.
Taking this two and a half hour classic, they transform it into a speedy, fun-packed and surreal 55 minute performance with five actors sharing twenty roles.
With pop culture references dropping left, right and centre along with pantomime-style shenanigans, this is a performance the whole family will love.
Classic lines are updated to fit this quirky parody. “A plague on both your coffee shops,” is repeated to much laughter.
As an audience we’re kept on our toes, from people being drawn out on stage to help form a balcony to cast members perching in the middle of a row and engaging with you mid scene - the audience interactions are ongoing and add to the riviting panto-style.
This is a fast-paced and punchy performance which keeps you engaged and amused but with so much going on it can be hard keeping up with the story at times, something which could be confusing for very young children.
Overall though, there are enough puns, jokes and funny pop culture references for every age group, meaning this firecracker of a show will ultimately ensure everyone leaves with sore cheeks from laughing so much.
The only part of the show that received no laughs was a joke in relation to Juliet Cupulet’s nut allergy and Pret A Manger not labelling their products correctly, given this is supposed to be a family-friendly show the gag which essentially references the death of a 15-year-old child is in incredibly poor-taste. It was clear (from loud audible gasps and uncomfortable shuffling) that this was not well received by anyone in the room, something which the actors on stage awkwardly picked up on.
Besides this unfortunate blip, Shakespeare for Breakfast is very funny and the ideal morning show for audiences young and old.
