The bright lights and bawdy behaviour found on The Las Vegas Strip have been tossed into one of Shakespeare’s plays, with a fantastic amount of talent and energy from the performing arts students at Lichfield College. Cops, robbers, romance and chaos are being dealt out with a whole load of ‘burnin’ love and showgirl shenanigans! The Merry Wives of Vegas replaces the sedate setting of Windsor with a fun and farcical adaptation that will leave you rolling in the aisles!
This year, the talented cohort have managed to adapt one of Shakespeare’s lesser-known plays into something that is camp, crazy, and full of surprises. Writer and Director, Lenny Love says that it has been a huge learning curve for not only the students, but also himself.
I have never read or studied The Merry Wives of Windsor, so it has been like going back to school in creating this show – Lenny Love, Writer and Director
He explained how this version brings something different to the stage, and how the students have had an opportunity to get creative with the Bard’s work.
For a start, we have included some amazing musical numbers. Obviously, we have a couple of Elvis tracks in it as an homage to the Vegas music scene, but also some amazingly catchy and popular tunes from American artists that add a bit of irreverent humour to the plot.
We are very lucky to not only have a talented bunch of performers, but students from other subjects have also been a part of the process too. Artists from our Games Design cohort have designed and animated a clever digital backdrop for the show. Our Carpentry team have built our impressive theatre sets and the band are wholly comprised of our talented learners from the music department. – Lenny Love
Lenny is sure that the show will be a popular one whether you are a fan of Shakespeare, or not.
Don’t expect ruff-collars, and poetry in the show. Expect fantastic songs, routines and comedy. – Lenny Love
The show will be performed at The Lichfield Garrick Theatre on Friday 15th May at 7.30pm, and Saturday 16th May at 2:30pm and 7:30pm.
Tickets are available from www.lichfieldgarrick.com.
