Acorn Productions' Naked Shakespeare Presents VAUDEVILLIANS

March brings the return of Avner Eisenberg to Acorn Productions, this time as the co-director of the monthly Naked Shakespeare show entitled "Vaudevillians," which will be performed at Mechanics Hall on First Friday, with a Thursday night preview, and the following Thursday at Oxbow Blending and Bottling.

"Vaudevillians" features slapstick humor, sizzling puns, hat routines, juggling, unicycling, mixed with some witty Shakespearean text. Mr. Eisenberg, best known as the internationally-renowned clown "Avner the Eccentric," last worked with Acorn producing the Phyzgig vaudeville festival for 15 years, and he collaborates on "Vaudevillians" with Naked Shakespeare's Artistic Director Michael Levine to create a fun and fast-moving evening of entertainment.

The show unfolds as a vaudeville-style show with scenes from several comedies interspersed with clowning routines from cast members and the talents of local juggler and unicyclist Janoah Bailin. The script includes material from The Comedy of Errors, Love's Labor's Lost, Much Ado About Nothing, The Taming of the Shrew, and Two Gentlemen of Verona. All performances begin at 7:30pm, and tickets are pay-what-you-can. More information and advance tickets are available on Acorn's website at www.acorn-productions.org.

Many of Shakespeare's early comedies features scenes inspired by lazzi, or comic routines, from Commedia dell'Arte, a Renaissance-era style of Italian street performances that revolved around the antics of well-known "stock" characters such as Harlequin. Modern audiences are most familiar with this type of comedy from such well-known comedians as Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, and Laurel and Hardy, not to mention The Three Stooges. "Vaudevillians" cast members bring to life zany and unpredictable characters who engage in verbal and physical repartee as they negotiate the clown's world in which simple problems demand complicated answers and complicated problems are mastered with simple solutions. Audience members who attended one of the hundreds of Phyzgig shows over the years will instantly recognize the brand of humor as one that delights audiences young and old.