When I was in college learning German, students were given the opportunity to participate in an informal gathering called Stammtisch. What it amounted to was a group of students and teachers meeting informally at a local pizza joint (I love you, Track Town) to drink vast quantities of beer (a short walk from campus) and speak volubly without any inibriation inhibition.
For those at home wondering, it worked more or less. There’s nothing like a little buzz among friends to open up lines of communication in a foreign tongue. Or even your own. Especially kids made self- conscious by a profound language with incredibly long nouns and multiple-clause sentences with the verb stuck all the way at the end.
Which is not to endorse alcohol in academic pursuits – or any pursuits for that matter – other than an honest good time.
I was reminded, sigh, of those nostalgic college years as I stumbled upon news of Drunken Shakespeare. While I have no doubt that the Bard imbibed from time to time, I assumed (accurately, it turns out) that the title may have more in common with my collegiate German obsession than Shakespeare’s personal drinking habits.
Thus, I promulgate the news that Drunk Shakespeare is on tap to unleash a new round of dramaturgical shenanigans. A self-proclaimed “drinking club with a Shakespeare problem,” they mix alcohol and acting to no doubt outrageous effect.
Here is a LINK to the full description. But for those desiring a li’l nip, here is a reasonably sober description:
” For over four-hundred years, the Drunk Shakespeare Society has been meeting and drinking. And drinking, and doing DRUNK SHAKESPEARE.
The membership invites audiences to join them for a meeting in their society lounge. The evening begins with one actor drinking more than a sophisticated amount of alcohol before attempting to lead the cast through a Shakespeare story in sixty minutes. The results are messy, outrageous, and the evening devolves into debauchery.”
Sounds like the prefect prescription for those who take their Shakespeare a wee bit, ahem, too seriously.
A Year of Shakespeare 