one4review | On 12, Aug 2024

Packed into a wee room in Gilded Balloon’s Patter House, at 1pm, is an amazing show that has been the highlight of our festival so far. This is an improvised Shakespeare show. Members of the audience are asked to choose the genre of play we are about to see, either comedy, tragedy or history. We are then asked to volunteer the setting of the play, on our day it was an IKEA store on a pirate ship. We were asked to give details of a feud we have had with someone to gain some characters. A brand-new Shakespeare play is then acted out to us. Might sound a bit dry? It wasn’t. It was clever, witty and extremely funny.

There was standing room only to see out 6 wonderful actors bring the play to life. I will never understand how they were able to take just a few audience suggestions and turn them into a play with a plot, a sub plot and loads of laughs. This age guide for this show is 12+ which I think is about right. My 12-year-old loved it. We will definitely see it again next year. In fact, I’d like to see it again tonight. Highly recommend.

*****
Reviewed by Claire and Nina
Gilded Balloon, Patter House – Dram
13.00 (1hr)
Until 26th August