House of Bards

by Mark Cofta

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Published: Sep 1, 2010

Neal Santos

Every Pig Iron Theatre Co. première is a significant event and sure to be surprising, whether lovingly skewering modern Midwest culture (Welcome to Yuba City, last year's Barrymore Award-nominated creation), celebrating glam-rockers Queen (Mission to Mercury), or plumbing 9/11's spiritual depths (Love Unpunished). For Cankerblossom, the eclectic company returns to William Shakespeare for the first time since 2007's grimly mesmerizing Isabella, which set Measure for Measure in a morgue populated by naked zombies. But don't worry: Since it's based on A Midsummer Night's Dream, this is actually an all-ages fairy tale. Director Dan Rothenberg and cartoonist-puppeteer Beth Nixon combine stop-motion animation, video projection, live music and Pig Iron's distinctive physical style to create an eerie two-dimensional Flat World. Rothenberg calls Cankerblossom a dare "to do something simple, sweet and sometimes stupid."

Sept. 2-5, 8-12 and 14-18, $25-$30, Christ Church Neighborhood House, 20 N. American St.                      

Philadelphia playwright Liam Thomas Dailey's Kid Out of Nowhere might not seem like Shakespeare at first glance: "The baby isn't lost," Act Normal Theatre Co.'s blurb reads — "two gay guys stole it." But Macbeth actually inspired Dailey's dark comedy about an ambitious man driven to crime by his conniving spouse, who later goes insane. Yup, that's Macbeth. Dailey, who received his Master of Letters in Shakespeare studies from Scotland's University of St. Andrews, packs in as much jealousy, ambition, back-stabbing and revenge as the Bard, plus modern urban trappings like designer kitchens and bicurious sex.

Sept. 4-5 and 11-12, $10, William Way Community Center, 1315 Spruce St.                                               

True children of the '80s, The Outfit co-founders Rhett Henckel and Nat McIntyre decided Top Gun would be their vehicle for bringing the Bard to a wider audience. Indeed the Tom Cruise classic — full of ambition, hot love and ghost appeasement — is truly Shakespearean. The New York company, which includes classically trained actors, calls Jester's Dead "a great entry point to reveal the athleticism of Shakespeare's language to audiences more comfortable with sports and pop culture," according to director Suzana Berger.

Sept. 3-5 and 8-11, $15, The Latvian Society, 531 N. Seventh St.                                                              

The Nature Theater of Oklahoma asked 10 people to explain the story of Romeo and Juliet, and scripted an "accidental retelling" entirely from the sometimes inaccurate, often hilarious responses. The New York-based traveling company also explores audience expectations, says co-director Kelly Copper. "We wanted the title to be a bit ambiguous: When people buy a ticket, what do they think they will see?"

Sept. 8-11, $25-$30, Plays & Players Theater, 1714 Delancey St.                                                               

Only one 2010 Live Arts/Fringe show is straight-up Shakespeare, and it's a doozy: Titus Andronicus, not produced professionally in Philadelphia since 1839, features 14 killings (nine on stage), six severed members (hands, tongues — get your mind out of the gutter), at least one rape (experts differ), a live burial, an insane freak-out and a little cannibalism (via meat pie). Director Liam Castellan touts Shakespeare's first tragedy as "a great story of family and revenge with some phenomenal poetry, but unfairly dismissed as inferior and rarely performed because of its violence." Hey, for many people, all that blood makes it extra delicious.

Sept. 16-19, plus other performances through Oct. 2, $20, Plays & Players Theater, 1714 Delancey St.         

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