ASC to Present SHAKESPEARE'S BEST BITS

Australia's largest independent theatre company the Australian Shakespeare Company (ASC) is thrilled to announce the hilarious hit production Shakespeare's Best Bits. "Pantaloon-meets-Python slapstick, song, dance and parodies LOADS OF FUN." - The Age From 18 December 2015 until 12 March 2016, Melbourne's Royal Botanic Gardens will transform into a Shakespearian festival of laughs. Watch a sizzle reel of the show here.

Tickets are on sale now from www.shakespeareaustralia.com.au

The Mechanicals, that daring but goofy troupe of thespians from A Midsummer Night's Dream, will take audiences on an uproarious journey through all the Bard's best bits.

>From a Romeo & Juliet ballet to Macbethian Punch & Judy puppet witches, a King Lear battle rap to Beatrice and Benedick rock bands, this is slapstick theatre at its best, all too rarely seen in Melbourne.

It's silly, it's chaotic, it's clever. It's full of surprises, misunderstandings, blunders and comic wit - it cracks open Shakespeare and infuses it with wildly exciting scenarios. It's wickedly entertaining. Glenn Elston's brilliantly funny adaptation of Shakespeare's cannon is designed to have the audience in stitches.

"Working back from the Mechanicals' ultimate goal of wanting to please the Duke and Duchess with their choice of play gave us a lot of scope to work through Shakespeare's canon," says Glenn Elston, who also directs the production.

"The show covers ten different Shakespearian works (including a sonnet) and draw on a riotous medley of theatrical styles, from opera to cabaret to Commedia Dell'Arte. It has been a huge hit both with our loyal Shakespeare audiences as well as young people and others who are new to Shakespeare."

The cast includes ASC comedy kings Kevin Hopkins (Melbourne Theatre Company, Blue Heelers) as Peter Quince, Anthony Rive (Aardvark Pub Theatre, ASC's The Comedy of Errors) as Francis Flute and Hugh Sexton (Ghost Rider, The Wedding Party, Neighbours) as Robin Starveling.

They are joined by new(ish) to the troupe Scott Jackson as Tom Snout, who stole the show as a devilishly funny Mercutio and has been making Shakespeare audiences guffaw for four years. West End performer Mark Dickinson (Les Miserables, South Pacific, Guys and Dolls) returns to play Snug, after commanding the stage at Jaques in last summer's As You Like It. Making his Shakespeare in the gardens debut is Andrew 'Hondo' Hondromatidis (Opera Australia's South Pacific, Underbelly: Squizzy) as the loveable Nick Bottom.

The Mechanicals transform into heightened versions of histories most famous characters - Romeo, Juliet, Hamlet, Ophelia, Macbeth, Othello, King Lear, Beatrice, Benedick and many, many more. Each character has their own ideas about which play to present for the Duke, with endless comedy coming from their theatrical battles and clashes of egos.

Shakespeare's Best Bits was formerly known as A Midsummer Night's Dream: Behind The Scenes, performed in the Royal Botanic Gardens in the summer of 2010-2011.

The City of Melbourne and Arts Victoria have commended Glenn Elston and the Australian Shakespeare Company for achievements in their mission to make theatre accessible to the wider community.

Every summer Melbourne's iconic Royal Botanic Gardens are a hive of activity with thousands of Melburnians, Victorians, national and international visitors enjoying Glenn Elston's Shakespeare Under the Stars and family favourite The Wind in the Willows. This summer the company also presents a new interactive show for preschoolers: Tinkerbell and the Dream Fairies.

Since its inception, the company has played to over a million people nationally with critically acclaimed annual summer seasons, indoor shows, concerts, plays and indigenous festivals.

EVENT INFORMATION:

WHEN: 8:00pm Tuesday-Sunday nights 18 December 2014 to 12 March 2015
(No performances 24-26 Dec, 1 Jan, 26-28 Jan, 2-4 Feb. Visit www.shakespeareaustralia.com.au for detailed performance info)
Special Valentine's Day show on 14 February:
Pre-show entertainment from 6pm

WHERE: Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne
Enter through Observatory Gate on Birdwood Avenue

PRICES: $40-$50 for adults, $30-$40 for Concessions, $25 for children 15 years and under

BOOKINGS: www.shakespeareaustralia.com.au or call 03 8676 7511

Cash sales are available at the on-site box office unless sold out, box office opens one hour prior to each performance.

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