Shakespeare's Last Night Out - a GeniusFEST Special Event at Santa Monica Playhouse - The Other Space

Santa Monica Playhouse and Sew and Sew Productions are proud to present the first annual GeniusFEST From Ideas to Impact – Celebrating Revolutionary Minds, inspiring audiences to engage in their world in a more appreciative and enlightening manner, while at the same time being astounded by the spectacular stories these artists tell.Join us April 24-27 for Shakespeare’s Last Night Out.

“Fisher gives us a highly moving, distinctive portrait of a dreamer/actor/writer who was simply a man.” Gia On the Move

Legend has it Shakespeare expired from a fever after a night of drinking. Raise your cups with the mysterious Bard of Avon on his “last night out” as he defends his authorship against doubting canker blossoms. 

“Shakespeare as a Rock Star…For sheer entertainment value and uncanny comic timing, Shaw’s dozen-song impersonation of an alcoholic and dissipated Shakespeare on the eve of his death — defending his authorship from posterity’s naysayers — can’t be beat.” LA Weekly

Winner of the Ovation Award for Best Book of an Original Musical 2015, Hollywood Fringe Top of Fringe and Best Solo Performance, comes a bawdy journey of song, recounting the secret events and odd characters who shaped the greatest writer of all time.

“This one man 75-minute Elizabethan tavern musical could easily tour the country in every intimate venue, educational setting, pub or cabaret house smart enough to book it.” Broadway World

Michael Shaw Fisher (Writer/Performer) was most recently awarded the Drama Critic Circle Award in 2024 for Best Lyrics and Music for “EXORCISTIC: the Rock Musical Parody of the Exorcist” which performed in Los Angeles, New York City, Long Beach and San Francisco in 2023. He is premiering his play “the Amazing Sex Life of Rabbits” this June at the Broadwater in Hollywood, and recently published his debut novel “The Town and the Fury.” His company is also planning on taking EXORCISTIC back to New York City in the fall. Rated 10 to adult.

“Gold Medal winner - a wonderful show, both funny and touching, that should not be missed!” thetvolution.com

We so often take for granted the vast amounts of technology around us, never knowing the geniuses who created these remarkable innovations. Jack Fry (EINSTEIN), Heather Massey (HEDY LAMARR) and Michael Shaw Fisher (SHAKESPEARE), the artists who bring these marvelous thinkers so magnificently to life, asked if it might not be their mission to bring awareness to the dramatic stories behind these historic achievements, these revolutionary ideas from all types of visionaries that have transformed our world. Join us for GeniusFEST and see for yourself. For details on all GeniusFEST shows, visit SantaMonicaPlayhouse.com 

GeniusFEST is partnering with the Luz Maria Foundation to raise money for the victims of the Los Angeles Fires. There will be an opportunity to make a donation when purchasing a ticket and a collection box in the Playhouse courtyard to donate clothing, books and non-perishable food items. https://www.luzmariafoundation.org

Thursday, April 24 at 8pm; Saturday, April 26 at 5pm; Sunday, April 27 at 2pm