On Nov. 19, Shakespeare came back from the dead, died again, came back, then died again.
Well, not exactly. Shakespeare is indeed still dead, but The Shakespeare Troupe, on the other hand, died a few times on that day before being resurrected. But why would the troupe succumb to this fate? For money, of course.
For just the low price of a dollar, fans of the literary legend could watch troupe members act out famous deaths from Shakespeare’s great works.
From “Romeo and Juliet” to “Hamlet” to “Macbeth,” the troupe excelled in performing death after death. All that had to be done for these performances was the exchange of cash and the choosing of the weapon. Customers could choose from a dagger, vial of poison, saber, and more. Depending on which weapon you picked, the actor would perform the corresponding scene.
One unexpected part of the event was that the customer did not just get to pay and watch the deaths unfold, but they also had to live with their actions. Each customer had to wield the weapons they chose and watch as they killed famous Shakespeare characters. From stabbing Mercutio to handing Romeo a vial of poison, the actors performed loud and proud, their voices echoing throughout Buntrock with great gusto.
“We came up with this idea for fundraising because we know people like to see [other] people make a fool of themselves,” Lucy Korman ’27, Shakespeare Troupe artistic consultant, said in an interview with The Olaf Messenger. “We knew that is what this [event] is, but also it’s an opportunity to perform this great work that people know and love.”
So, whether people participated in the fundraiser as a way to get their own court jester for a moment or to watch the wonderful scenes of Shakespeare, it does not matter. In the end, this fundraiser was an opportunity to share the beautiful gift of acting.
