Mar
31

Bogan Shakespeare

Presented by HT&E Theatre Co

The show is born from a love of William Shakespeare; taking inspiration from his vast catalogue, borrowing from, paying homage, and mixing in contemporary Aussie comedy.

Friday 31 March | 7.30pm | GPAC Little Theatre

Award-winning Gippsland Theatre Co. HT&E presents their 2018 touring and Fringe comedy hit Bogan Shakespeare in the 2023 Melbourne International Comedy Festival.

Shakespeare is widely considered the greatest English playwright, with his plays still hugely popular, being performed around the world, even 400 years after his death. But who actually understands what the heck he was on about?

Modern audiences often find "The Bard" confusing, frustrating, boring, irrelevant, incomprehensible and downright stupid. Bogan Shakespeare changes all that, and brings his classic works to life in easy-to-understand, relatable language, that any Aussie can comprehend.

Funny, irreverent, dramatic, serious, fast and at times inappropriate, this is the treatment and interpretation that every Aussie has been waiting for, and some might be outraged by.

There is bogan jokes, clever social commentary, non-stop fun-poking at Shakespeare and at the fact that he was too clever for most of us to understand. We have a look at the classics, but we also extract the insults and humour. It’s all about making the works fun and accessible to everyone, regardless of their exposure to Willy’s works.

The show is born from a love of William Shakespeare; taking inspiration from his vast catalogue, borrowing from, paying homage, and mixing in contemporary Aussie comedy.

We break down the flowery language, explain it, have a few laughs at what it really means and generally make it less scary, because you actually use Shakespeare quotes more than you know.

Bogan Shakespeare opened at the 2018 Shakespeare on the River Festival at Stratford Courthouse, won an Aussie Comedy Gong, then toured regional venues and played a season at Club Voltaire in the 2018 Melbourne Fringe Festival, and now finally hits MICF 2023.