Diandra Reviews It All-Shakesbeer Brings The Bard And The Beer

Shakesbeer is, sincerely, one of the best things to do in NYC. It is a pub crawl in which scenes of Shakespeare are acted by some of the best, rising actors in New York. With one free drink as you walk to 4 Top Bars in either the Manhattan or Brooklyn borough, the actors use the bar as a setting, of which the easy-access ambiance makes you, oddly, understand Shakespeare even more.

Shakespeare is one of the best writers of all time, and, for his ear, he was considered a man of the people; using his wit to comment on a lot of the social disparities we still suffer from like, corruption, poverty, and inequality. Yet, amongst these views, lies some of the most romantic verses of all time. Believe it or not, there was a time, especially before Shakespeare, when the idea of falling in love or a woman and man choosing to love each other felt null and unnecessary: even marriage was a power play. Yet, in choosing scenes from Taming of the Shrew, Twelfth Night, As You Like It, and Tartuffe, Shakesbeer has decided that this run’s theme will be: the misadventures of love.

With a cast that will make me feel honored to say, “I saw them before they were Oscar winners,” this year’s theme felt refreshing and inviting. While last time I was floored by how much I saw Shakespeare as a social activist, this time, Shakesbeer taught me The Bard had a silly sense of humor. With directors Kelly Johnston and Lynnsey Ooten, the language of Shakespeare feels touchable. These dramaturgists make him feel hearable, understandable, and relatable to those living in 2019 NYC. Suddenly, he felt like a man that understood the difficulties of dating, the weird fashion choices we make to impress lovers, and the misfortunes of convincing your parents to like your boyfriend. Who knew Shakespeare felt Millennial struggles?

Beyond being one of the best ways to learn and love Shakespeare as an artist, Shakesbeer earns such a great crowd. A lot of the people that go either A) love Shakespeare B) love acting C) love pub crawls. Altogether, these are my kind of people! (lol!) Everyone so warm and eager to be kind and friendly to the other, which gives the pub crawl a familial ambiance. With the actors interspersed amongst the crowd, jumping on stools or prat-falling down stairs, you then walk with them to the next pub or discuss with the strangers you meet about the scene you saw.

Shakesbeer is a very grounded setting that is always divided between the many that have done this crawl at least 3 times before and those that “heard the word on the street.” Shakesbeer is growing in popularity, and with each one having a different theme, it feels like the Shakespearean version of Cheers: you go where everyone knows your name or, at least, is nice enough to want to know it. Shakesbeer happens, again, on March 9 Buy Tickets Here.