In Saturday's free show in Dolores Park, before an audience assembled on the grass with picnic blankets and wine and cheese, a young woman earnestly confessed her dreams to her nursemaid (reminiscent of Romeo and Juliet), a curse was placed on a young man trying to find his love (A Midsummer Night's Dream), and a woman disguised herself as a man to prove a point (how very Twelfth Night). There's an evil witch (Macbeth, of course), a soliloquy lamenting a hard decision (Hamlet), a merry band of travelers (Much Ado About Nothing), identity confusion (too many to name), and a resolution ending in wedding plans and a celebratory dance (name most any comedy from Measure to Measure to Bridesmaids).
Dressed in colorful tunics and tights, the ensemble began the show by asking the audience for suggestions of setting where a Shakespeare play would take place. The audience suggested a forest. From that single suggestion, the troupe proceeded to act out an hour-long improvised play in the style of Shakespeare.
The cast performs the story in the complicated, ornate, and impractical Shakespearean language used to convey even the simplest of emotions, complete with the smattering of "yeas," "nays," and "thous." The characters are big and bold, and they present their dilemmas, no matter how farcical, with intense energy and complete commitment to the situation.
In Saturday's show, Horatio, a young boy, wanders away from his family into the forest to encounter a witch. His clumsy parents, both cowards, each claim to be the least brave of the couple -- and therefore not the one to rescue the boy. Eventually, through tears of terror, they set out to save their son with the wife riding on the husband's back. When Horatio discovers a band of hunters and is required (through various plot complications) to make them believe that he's found them a wife, his incessant yammering and stalling (in Shakespearean dialogue, no less) heightens their annoyance to an inevitable explosion of frustration.
Audience member Mitch Green explains the comic element in "how the peculiarities of Shakespearean language causes the actors to dig themselves into odd situations, and it is delightful to see how the actors justify this and make it part of the story."
Says cast member David Boyll, "We truly want to pay homage to the work of Shakespeare, not to make a parody of it."
The cast commits its time to honoring the work of the Bard in particular, he continues, because "it provides such a breadth of amazing theater, including tragedy, deceit, romance, music, and even social commentary told through an ornate, expressive language."
For the actors, explains Boyll, it also allows them to be "over the top, flamboyant, fantastical, and have a blast doing it. "
Boyll and the rest of the cast, which includes Lisa Rowland, Merrill Gruver, John Ligon, Chet Anderson, and Amy Houtrow, came together as a group about two years ago. Trained as scripted theater actors, they met as students at BATS Improv and bonded over their shared love for Shakespearean improvisation. A logical next step would be to form a troupe, rent a theater, and promote ticket sales, but the group's intrinsic enjoyment of honoring Shakespeare is what motivates them. Thus, their version of a free "Shakespeare in the Park" experience for San Francisco was born.
Boyll pledges: "As long as it doesn't rain and people show up, Shakespeare's Stepchild will continue to perform."
The group's next performance is Saturday, Aug. 19, at 2 p.m. in Mission Dolores Park. More information and upcoming dates can be found at the Shakespeare's Stepchild website and Facebook page.
For more events this week and beyond, check out our calendar section.
