Classics get a makeover on Peterborough stages this week

The Internationally acclaimed, and award-winning Sh!t-faced Shakespeare is back on the road, and bringing joy to a Peterborough audience at The Cresset on Friday.

This time they are giving Romeo and Juliet their signature twist as the cast attempt to navigate the bard’s fated love story with one drunk performer.

Sh!t-faced Shakespeare is the hilarious combination of an entirely serious adaptation of a Shakespearean classic, with an entirely sh!t-faced cast member. With one cast member selected at random and given four hours to drink before every show, this is classical theatre as it was always meant to be seen: with a gin in one hand, a cup of wine in the other and a flagon of ale in the other…

An age-old vendetta between two powerful families erupts into bloodshed. A group of masked Montagues gate-crash a Capulet party. A young lovesick Romeo Montague falls instantly in love with Juliet Capulet. The two plan to marry, but their families ain’t having it. Then for reasons best known to herself Juliet follows the friar’s supremely ill-advised plot and fakes her own death. The rest of the story, as you no doubt know, does not go well for our ill-fated lovebirds.

Featuring sozzled star-crossed lovers, a tipsy Tybalt, muddled masquerade balls and squiffy street fights, audiences are invited to settle in for a pint (or two!) and raise a glass with Sh!t-faced Shakespeare as they present the classic combination of a Tetris-ed together Shakespeare script, a six pack of professional actors and a luge of booze. What could possibly go right?

Warning: Sh!t-faced Shakespeare is perfect for those wishing to add to their repertoire of colourful language and not for those who blush easily at the mere mention of the “F” word…

On Wednesday, a DH Laurence classic is given the laughter-filled parody treatment when Not Lady Chatterley’s Lover comes to the Key Theatre, bringing you high drama, high comedy and highly-raised eyebrows!

Lady Chatterley welcomes her husband, Clifford, home from a war that has left the world in tatters. With Clifford’s legs also in tatters, he arrives at Wragby Hall confined to a wheelchair and clutching his secret.

Despite her husband’s impotence, a subject that everyone struggles to avoid, Constance entertains the idea that one day they could have a child. However, as Clifford’s obsession for industrial pursuits heightens, Constance embarks on a passionate and curiously experimental affair with Mellors, the estate gamekeeper.

Pottervision, at the Key Theatre tomorrow ( Friday), sees four performers all set to recreate Harry Potter and The Philosopher’s Stone but, when two of them drop out on the day (and take all the props and costumes with them), Tom and Lukas must go it alone and make do with the limited resources they have.

With DIY props, charity shop costumes and both performers having to play multiple characters, Pottervision is a wig-changing, wizard-impersonating, audience-immersing Ford Anglia ride through all the ridiculousness of that first magical movie. What could possibly go wrong?

Appropriate for ages 14+,Pottervision is a fantastical spectacular for everyone from the most casual fan to the most avid squib.

Finally, Paines Plough - Sessions takes to the Key Theatre Studio stage on Wednesday.

Tunde’s 30th birthday is fast approaching. So he’s just started therapy because he hasn’t been able to get to the gym for weeks and a recent one-night stand ended in tears – his.

Interrogating the challenge of opening up and accepting our own vulnerabilities, Sessions by Ifeyinwa Frederick is a raw, funny, bittersweet deep-dive into the complexities of masculinity, depression and therapy.