By: Jon Behm
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MASCP is the latest brainchild of local humorist Joseph Scrimshaw. It is a parody of Shakespeare’s Macbeth, told with a heavy amount of audience interaction, puppets and hilarity. Scrimshaw’s Macbeth is a sort of vainglorious little big man, who isn’t afraid to lick ketchup off of Banquo’s bald head or call members of the audience “motherfuckers.”
Interlaced with dick jokes, crude humor and satire, Scrimshaw also manages to include some of the original aspects of Shakespeare’s play …er, namely dick jokes, crude humor and satire, of which the original is brimming. Shakespeare’s more provocative metaphors are both ridiculed and then turned around and used again, all with mock seriousness laced with brittle irony. All of this manages at once to present some serious themes and lampoon them at the same time.
The theme the play primarily concerns itself with is whether interactive theater should be considered “high art.” Scrimshaw’s Macbeth has a pretty serious chip on his shoulder when it comes to defending the art against bastard theater critics, snobby actors and easily distracted audiences. Though the argument is for you to decide, the interactive parts of the play are the most enjoyable, especially when Macbeth tries to involve audience members in his various murders. On Monday, he actually got a tiny little kid in the audience to stab Banquo for him and later tries to pin his crimes on a middle-aged woman in the second row.
Already selling out nearly every show, MASCP has quickly become the Fringe destination for the discerning patrons. Judging by its reputation, I was expecting to laugh my ass off at the show and come back for seconds. While I did laugh my ass off at times, there were also a few times when the humor wasn’t quite as laugh out loud as I wanted it to be. Overall, I found the show to be pretty funny though, and I would recommend it to anyone interested in seeing something extremely wild, a bit wacky and just a little dirty.
Location Info:
Black Forest Inn
Artist Info: Fringe Festival, Joseph Scrimshaw
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