“Dinosaur eats man…women and nonbinary individuals inherit the beer.”

#ShakesbeersShowdown is where Toronto’s hottest indie Shakespeare companies face-off in a battle of winner-takes-all, loser-drinks-most, as contestants cold read scenes from Shakespeare’s notoriously-hard-to-read First Folio. The winner is crowned the revered Shakesbeers Showdown Heavyweight Champion (complete with championship belt), and the losers…get a lot of beer. This year’s theme: Jurassic Bard.

For the first time ever, the SOTMSC opens up #ShakesbeersShowdown to all companies and members of the public. Companies do not have to be Shakespeare-based, and you don’t even have to have a company: there is a slot available for those without theatre companies to apply as a part of “the people”. Whether you are a Stratford regular or a theatre-school graduate, the title of #ShakesbeersShowdown Heavyweight Champion is yours for the drinking.

After an in-depth application process, the official #ShakesbeersShowdown 2018 Teams are:

The Stratford Festival (featuring EB Smith and Mikaela Davies)

Skipping Stones Theatre

Shakespeare Bash’d (featuring James Wallis)

Theatre ARTaud

Shakey-Shake and Friends Theatre Company

Theatre By Committee

Shakespeare In The Ruff

The People (the team for individual applicants)

Spur-Of-The-Moment Shakespeare Collective

The Reviewers (a team comprised of Toronto’s Theatre Reviewers!)

On top of all of this, a new rule has been set in place: In the interest of our commitment to gender diversity, 50% of teams must be women, trans, intersex, 2 spirit, nonbinary, agender or gender variant. The text may have been written by one (or a collection of predominantly) old white dude(s), but it doesn’t always have to be performed by them.

Spur-of-the-Moment Shakespeare Collective is proud to present the seventh annual Shakesbeers Showdown: Jurassic BARD April 27th, 2018 at 918 Bathurst. This event has been graciously helped into being by 918 Bathurst. All funds raised go towards the Shakespeare-In-Hospitals 2018 Program.

Doors: 6:00pm

Show: 7:00pm

General: $25

Student/Arts Worker: $22 at the door ($18 online)

Honorary Judge: $100

Tickets are available at:

http://www.nowtickets.ca/events/52109998/shakesbeersshowdown-jurassic-bard

Or visit nowtickets.ca and search “shakesbeers"

Individual entry form (for “The People) can be found on at: http://spurofthemomentshakespeare.weebly.com/shakesbeers

* All Equity Artists are participating in this Benefit performance of Shakesbeers Showdown with the express permission of Canadian Actors' Equity Association