Doing Shakespeare

Following a two-week London run, Doing Shakespeare goes on tour to venues across the UK. Doing Shakespeare follows fictional company of actors as they agree to stage a Shakespeare play but don’t think to agree on which one should be (or not to be) before chaos ensues. Steven Arnold, best known as for his fifteen-year stint on Coronation Street as Ashley Peacock, will join the cast of six actors in David Spicer’s farcical fusion of Shakespeare’s classics.

The Northern Comedy Theatre originally produced the Doing series of zoom-based online performances at the start of the March 2020 lockdown, with titles such as Doing Whodunnit and Doing The Book Club, as well as Doing Shakespeare, earning them six OnComms awards and a special ONEOFF award from The Offies.

Writer David Spicer said, “I’ve always loved the fun of Shakespeare. During lockdown, laughter was really important. I wrote Doing Shakespeare as an online zoom play to stop us all going a bit mad, but Zoom has plenty of limitations. When you’re doing comedy, it’s all about timing, and Zoom buffering is a disaster for live comedy. When our producer, Shaun, wanted to do it onstage, I felt released. It hadn’t been written for the stage, but it feels like it’s coming to where it always should have been. I hope people come along and have fun - if they think they don’t like Shakespeare, this is definitely the show for them.”

The show ran in London’s Bridewell Theatre for two weeks to rave reviews. It also was nominated by Off West End for Best Costume Design at the Offies 2022:

'A hilarious, farcical comedy of errors: Shakespeare meets Morecambe & Wise-style humour, with an energetic ensemble cast.' – Everything Theatre

 'an amusing take, whether you think you know Shakespeare or not' – Broadway World

'a brilliant piece of comedy writing' – No Sweat Shakespeare

‘an immensely entertaining 90 minutes’ – Theatre Things

‘A hit, a very palpable hit’ – 2nd From Bottom

‘I laughed and laughed’ – Reviewer Number 9

Northern Comedy Theatre were formed in Merseyside in 2015 with the aim of cheering up audiences. Their adaptation of the Doing series follows their premiere of All Above Board written by British comedy legend Nigel Planer, that toured in Summer 2021.

Running Time: 1hr 30 mins (including interval) | Suitable for ages 12+.