BARDon the Interruption (feat. Shakespeare on Draught)

Michael discusses the epic Zoom livestream of Romeo and Juliet with the talented Bowen Fox, the "bad-boy" of our company. You may recognize him better when he's standing on top of a spookily-lit truck with his face coated in blood.
He and the cast of R&J slew in an unprecedented Romeo and Juliet livestream that is going to change everything about theatre in the time of Corona.

With Cabinet member O'Neil Delapenha and our two-time Pod guest, Hayley Brown, Michael and Laurie close the Battle of the Bard by announcing the challenge winner (spoiler alert: Michael owes Laurie $10) and distributing our honorary O'Nie Awards, a Shakespeare on Draught tradition. Individually chosen awards include "Best Bard-On," "Best Cinematography," "Best Performance by a Newbie" and more.

Tune in to the next episode to hear about Monday night's excellent production of Romeo & Juliet, Zoom edition!

We catch up with Hayley Brown on the road to discuss the anarchy of Team Dagger in presenting Pap of Pyramus as a group effort, the final votings, and the lead-up to tonight's Zoom stream of Romeo and Juliet -- where we'll announce the winners of Battle of the Bard!

Michael Vine and Laurie Winkel call in Shakespeare on Draught newcomer Emily Nedvidek, who left us in stitches with her Tiger King-inspired renditions of "O, What a Noble Mind" and "Is This a Dagger" monologues in rounds 1 & 2.

We talk turkey on whipping votes, Laurie's head-shaving Lady Mackers, flaming carpets, and the anarchy that is to come in our final round. Candles are henceforth BANNED (not really). WE NEED OUR THEME SONG SET TO MUSIC, PLEASE.

PAPS OUT. Round 3 was a NAILBITER, with some teams winning by ONE VOTE. We catch up with SoD veteran Chris Harding to chat about our favorites, voter fraud, anarchy, candle banning, and our predictions. There's something up with Chris' hair; check on your socially isolated friends ...

Current lineup:

Pap of Pyramus vs. Is This a Dagger

It Is The Cause (named "morally corrupt") vs. Unsex Me Here (self-proclaimed anarchists)

Round Two of our Battle of the Bard monologue challenge brought us an unprecedented tie vote. We anticipated we’d have some nail biters, but never a dead tie: but here we were, with the same amount of votes for both “I Am An Ass” and “Whom You Have Condemn’d.” Without any system in place for such an occurrence (have we mentioned that we’re flying by the seat of our pants here?), we had to improvise to pick a winner.

Elizabeth Ann Miller put some treats on the floor and had Shakespeare on Draught’s favorite pup, Tucker, choose which of the two monologues would move on. (If you haven’t seen the video on our instagram, stop what you’re doing and check it out.)

Today after the dust settled and Round Three matchups were set, I caught up with the incomparable Laurie Winkel (Draught veteran, cat foster parent, and host of “Never Say Macbeth”) to recap Tucker’s choice and the first two rounds of our Battle of the Bard.

We talked about Brian Ashton Smith’s incredible text-based rendition of “Wherefore Art Thou Romeo,” the return of Tiger King, Sarah Hitzel’s cats, and so much more.

COMPLETE ROUND THREE MATCHUPS

(5) Is This a Dagger? vs. (7) I Am An Ass

(4) How Am I Then A Villain vs. (3) The Pap of Pyramus

(5) Blow, Winds vs. (6) It Is The Cause

(8) Thy Executioner vs. (3) Unsex Me Here

Michael and Laurie have 10 clams at stake here, so remember to VOTE VOTE VOTE!